1
李茂貞
Li Maozhen
2
二年，樞密使楊復恭得罪，奔於興元，興元節度使楊守亮，復恭之養子也，納之。 茂貞乃上書言復恭父子罪皆當誅，因自請為山南招討使。 昭宗以宦者故，難之，未許。 茂貞擅發兵攻破興元，復恭父子見殺。 茂貞表其子繼密權知興元軍府事，昭宗乃徙茂貞山南西道節度使，以宰相徐彥若鎮鳳翔。 茂貞不奉詔，上表自論曰：「但慮軍情忽變，戎馬難羈。 徒令甸服生靈，因茲受幣； 未審乘輿播越，自此何之？」 昭宗以茂貞表辭不遜，不能忍，以問宰相杜讓能，讓能以謂：「茂貞地大兵強，而唐力未可以致討； 鳳翔又近京師，易以自危而難於後悔，佗日雖欲誅晁錯以謝諸侯，恐不能也。」 昭宗怒曰：「吾不能孱孱坐受淩弱！」 乃責讓能治兵，而以覃王嗣周為京西招討使。 令下，京師市人皆知不可，相與聚承天門，遮宰相請無舉兵，爭投瓦石擊宰相，宰相下輿而走，亡其堂印，人情大恐，昭宗意益堅。 覃王率扈駕軍五十四都戰於盩厔，唐軍敗潰，茂貞遂犯京師，屯於三橋。 昭宗禦安福門，殺兩樞密以謝茂貞，使罷兵。 茂貞素與讓能有隙，因曰：「謀舉兵者非兩樞密，乃讓能也。」 陳兵臨臯驛，請殺讓能。 讓能曰：「臣故先言之矣，惟殺臣可以紓國難。」 昭宗泣下沾襟，貶讓能雷州司戶參軍，賜死，茂貞乃罷兵。
In the second year Yang Fugong, the Privy Council commissioner, lost the emperor’s trust and fled to Xingyuan. Yang Shouliang, military commissioner of Xingyuan and Fugong’s adopted son, took him in. Maozhen memorialized that Fugong and his son deserved death, and asked to lead the campaign into the southern mountains. Zhaozong, mindful of the eunuchs, hesitated and refused. Maozhen marched without leave, broke Xingyuan, and Fugong and his son were put to death. Maozhen asked that his son Congmi hold Xingyuan in his stead. Zhaozong moved Maozhen to Shannan West and sent Chancellor Xu Yanruo to Fengxiang. Maozhen refused the order and memorialized in his own defense: “I fear only that the troops may turn restless and the cavalry slip my grip. The heartland’s people would suffer for it— and if the Son of Heaven were driven from the capital, where would he turn?” Zhaozong read insolence in the memorial and could not swallow it. He asked Chancellor Du Rangneng. Rangneng said: “Maozhen holds a wide domain and a strong army; Tang lacks the force to call him to account; Fengxiang lies too close to Chang’an—strike at him and you court disaster you cannot undo. Another day, even if you killed a scapegoat to appease the warlords, you might not be able to.” Zhaozong flared: “I will not sit here and be pushed around!” He ordered Rangneng to mobilize and made Prince of Tan Sizhou commander of the western capital campaign. The order went out and the markets knew disaster was coming. Crowds blocked the chancellors at Chengtian Gate, begging them to halt the war, and pelted them with brick and stone until they fled on foot, leaving their seals behind. Terror swept the city, but Zhaozong only hardened his will. Prince of Tan Sizhou led fifty-four guard companies against Maozhen at Zhouzhi. Tang collapsed. Maozhen drove on the capital and camped at Sanqiao. Zhaozong appeared at the Anfu Gate, sacrificed the two Privy Council commissioners to appease Maozhen, and bade him stand down. Maozhen had long hated Rangneng. He said: “The plotters were not the Privy Council commissioners—it was Rangneng.” He drew up troops at Lingao Station and demanded Rangneng’s life. Rangneng said: “I told you so from the start—kill me alone and the realm may breathe again.” Zhaozong wept until his robe was soaked, banished Rangneng to Leizhou as registrar, and ordered him to die. Only then did Maozhen withdraw.
3
明年，河中節度使王重盈卒，其諸子珂、珙爭立。 晉王李克用請立珂，茂貞與韓建、王行瑜請立珙，昭宗不許。 茂貞等怒，率三鎮兵犯京師，謀廢昭宗，立吉王保。 未果，而晉王亦舉兵，茂貞懼，乃殺宰相韋昭度、李磎，留其養子繼鵬以兵二千宿衛而去。 晉兵至河中，繼鵬與行瑜弟行實等爭劫昭宗出奔，京師大亂，昭宗出居於石門。 茂貞以兵至鄠縣，斬繼鵬自贖。 晉兵已破王行瑜，還軍渭北，請擊茂貞。 昭宗以謂晉遠而茂貞近，因欲庇之以為德，而冀緩急之可恃也； 且茂貞已殺其子自贖矣，乃詔罷歸晉軍。 克用嘆曰：「唐不誅茂貞，憂未已也！」
The next year Wang Chongying of Hedong died, and his sons Ke and Gong fought over the circuit. Li Keyong of Jin backed Ke; Maozhen, Han Jian, and Wang Xingyu backed Gong. Zhaozong refused. Enraged, Maozhen and his allies marched from three circuits on Chang’an, plotting to depose Zhaozong and raise Prince of Ji Bao. The coup failed, and Jin marched as well. Maozhen, afraid, killed Chancellors Wei Zhaodu and Li Xi, left his adopted son Congpeng with two thousand men as palace guard, and withdrew. Jin reached Hedong. Congpeng and Xingyu’s brother Xingshi fought to drag Zhaozong away. Chang’an convulsed. The emperor took refuge at Shimen. Maozhen marched to E County and killed Congpeng to buy his peace. Jin had crushed Wang Xingyu and, camped north of the Wei, asked leave to strike Maozhen. Zhaozong reckoned Jin far and Maozhen near. He meant to shelter him as a favor and keep a warlord close at hand for trouble; and Maozhen had already killed his own son in atonement. He ordered Jin to stand down. Keyong sighed: “Until Tang kills Maozhen, the trouble will never end.
4
昭宗自石門還，益募安聖、捧宸等軍萬餘人，以諸王將之。 茂貞謂唐將討己，亦治兵請覲，京師大恐，居人亡入山谷。 茂貞遂犯京師，昭宗遣覃王拒之，覃王至三橋，軍潰，昭宗出居於華州。 遣宰相孫偓以兵討茂貞，韓建為茂貞請，乃已。 久之，加拜茂貞尚書令，封岐王。 其後，昭宗為宦者所廢，既反正，宰相崔胤欲借梁兵誅諸宦者，陰與梁太祖謀之。 中尉韓全誨等，亦倚茂貞之強，以為外援，茂貞遣其子繼筠以兵數千宿衛京師，宦者恃岐兵，益驕不可制。
Zhaozong came back from Shimen and raised ten thousand more for the Ansheng and Bengchen guards, putting princes at their head. Maozhen read the buildup as a move against him and mustered his own men to demand an audience. Chang’an panicked; people vanished into the hills. Maozhen struck the capital again. Zhaozong sent Prince of Tan Sizhou to hold him at Sanqiao; the army broke. The emperor withdrew to Hua. He sent Chancellor Sun Wo against Maozhen. Han Jian interceded, and the attack was called off. In time Maozhen was made Director of the Imperial Secretariat and Prince of Qi. Later eunuchs deposed Zhaozong; after his restoration Chancellor Cui Yin sought Liang’s blades to destroy them and conspired in secret with Liang Taizu Zhu Wen. Chief Eunuch Han Quanhui and his faction leaned on Maozhen’s power. Maozhen sent his son Congyun with thousands of men into the capital. Backed by Qi’s army, the eunuchs grew brazen and ungovernable.
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天復元年，胤召梁太祖以西，梁軍至同州，全誨等懼，與繼筠劫昭宗幸鳳翔。 梁軍圍之逾年，茂貞每戰輒敗，閉壁不敢出。 城中薪食俱盡，自冬涉春，雨雪不止，民凍餓死者日以千數。 米斗直錢七千，至燒人屎煮屍而食。 父自食其子，人有爭其肉者，曰：「此吾子也，汝安得而食之！」 人肉斤直錢百，狗肉斤直錢五百。 父甘食其子，而人肉賤於狗。 天子於宮中設小磨，遣宮人自屑豆麥以供禦，自後宮、諸王十六宅，凍餒而死者日三四。 城中人相與邀遮茂貞，求路以為生。 茂貞窮急，謀以天子與梁以為解。 昭宗謂茂貞曰：「朕與六宮皆一日食粥，一日食不托，安能不與梁和乎？」 三年正月，茂貞與梁約和，斬韓全誨等二十餘人，傳首梁軍，梁圍解。 天子雖得出，然梁遂劫東遷而唐亡，茂貞非惟亡唐，亦自困矣。
In Tianfu 1 (901) Yin called Zhu Wen west. Liang reached Tongzhou. Quanhui and his party, terrified, joined Congyun and dragged Zhaozong to Fengxiang. Liang besieged Fengxiang for more than a year. Maozhen fought and lost again and again, then shut the gates and would not come out. Wood and grain ran out. Winter dragged into spring under unending snow and rain. A thousand people a day froze or starved in the streets. A dou of rice cost seven thousand cash. At last they burned nightsoil and boiled the dead for food. Fathers ate their sons. Men fought over the meat, crying: “This is my child—how dare you eat him!” Human flesh sold for a hundred cash a pound; dog meat for five hundred. Fathers ate their sons willingly, yet human flesh was cheaper than dog. The emperor set a hand-mill in the palace and had women grind beans and wheat for his table. In the inner quarters and the sixteen princely mansions, three or four died of cold and hunger every day. The townspeople mobbed Maozhen and begged him for a way out. Cornered, Maozhen plotted to hand the emperor to Liang to break the siege. Zhaozong told Maozhen: “The court and I eat gruel one day and flatbread the next—how can we refuse peace with Liang?” In the first month of Tianfu 3 Maozhen sued for peace with Liang, beheaded Han Quanhui and twenty-odd others, and sent their heads to the besiegers. The encirclement broke. The emperor walked free, but Liang seized him and dragged the court east—and Tang was finished. Maozhen had ruined Tang and ruined himself.
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及梁太祖即位，諸侯之強者皆相次稱帝，獨茂貞不能，但稱岐王，開府置官屬，以妻為皇后，鳴梢羽扇視朝，出入擬天子而已。 茂貞居岐，以寬仁愛物，民頗安之，嘗以地狹賦薄，下令搉油，因禁城門無內松薪，以其可為炬也，有優者誚之曰：「臣請並禁月明。」 茂貞笑而不怒。
When Zhu Wen became emperor, the great warlords one by one took imperial titles. Maozhen alone could not. He called himself Prince of Qi, opened a court, named ministers, crowned his wife, kept court with watch-drums and feather fans, and aped the Son of Heaven in little else. Maozhen ruled Qi with a light hand and the people were fairly content. Once, taxes being thin on a narrow domain, he monopolized oil and barred pine kindling at the gates—it could be torched. A player jested: “Might I suggest we ban the moon as well?” Maozhen laughed and let it pass.
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初，茂貞破楊守亮取興元，而邠、寧、鄜坊皆附之，有地二十州，其被梁圍也，興元入於蜀； 開平已後，邠、寧、鄜、坊入於梁，秦、鳳、階、成又入於蜀； 當梁末年，所有七州而已。
When Maozhen had crushed Yang Shouliang and taken Xingyuan, Bin, Ning, and Yan-Yan all came in—twenty prefectures in all. Under Liang’s siege Xingyuan went to Shu; after Kaiping, Bin, Ning, Yan, and Yan fell to Liang; Qin, Feng, Jie, and Cheng to Shu again; by Liang’s end he held seven prefectures only.
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莊宗已破梁，茂貞稱岐王，上箋以季父行自處。 及聞入洛，乃上表稱臣，遣其子從嚴來朝。 莊宗以其耆老，甚尊禮之，改封秦王，詔書不名。 同光二年，以疾卒，年六十九，謚曰忠敬。
Once Zhuangzong destroyed Liang, Maozhen still called himself Prince of Qi and addressed Tang as a junior kinsman to an elder uncle. Hearing that Zhuangzong had entered Luoyang, he submitted as a subject and sent his son Congyan to court. Zhuangzong, honoring his age, changed his title to Prince of Qin and wrote edicts without naming him. In Tongguang 2 (924) he died at sixty-nine, posthumously Loyal and Respectful.
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從嚴為人柔而善書畫，茂貞承制拜從嚴彰義軍節度使。 茂貞卒，拜鳳翔節度使。 魏王繼岌征蜀，為供軍轉運應接使。 蜀平，繼岌遣從嚴部送王衍，行至鳳翔，監軍使柴重厚拒而不納，從嚴遂東至華州，聞莊宗之難乃西歸。 明宗入立，聞重厚嘗拒從嚴，遣人誅之。 從嚴上書，言重厚守鳳翔，軍民無所擾，願貸其過。 雖不許，士人以此多之。 歷鎮宣武、天平。 從嚴有田千頃、竹千畝在鳳翔，懼侵民利，未嘗省理，鳳翔人愛之。 廢帝起鳳翔，將行，鳳翔人叩馬乞從嚴。 廢帝入立，復以從嚴為鳳翔節度使，卒年四十九。
Congyan was mild and skilled in calligraphy and painting. Maozhen had him appointed military commissioner of Zhangyi by imperial order. At Maozhen’s death Congyan succeeded him at Fengxiang. When Prince of Wei Jiye marched on Shu, Congyan served as supply and transport liaison commissioner. When Shu fell, Jiye put Congyan in charge of escorting Wang Yan. At Fengxiang, Military Supervisor Chai Zhonghou shut the gates on him. Congyan went east to Hua, then turned west on news of Zhuangzong’s peril. When Mingzong took the throne he learned Zhonghou had barred Congyan and sent men to kill him. Congyan wrote that Zhonghou had held Fengxiang without troubling troops or people and asked mercy for him. The pardon was denied, but men of letters praised Congyan for it. He later held Xuanyi and Tianping. Congyan owned a thousand qing of land and a thousand mu of bamboo at Fengxiang. Fearing he would burden the people, he never went to collect from them, and Fengxiang loved him for it. When Feidi raised his banner in Fengxiang and prepared to leave, the townspeople caught his horse and begged for Congyan. When Feidi became emperor he restored Congyan to Fengxiang. Congyan died at forty-nine.
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韓建，字佐時，許州長社人也。 少為蔡州軍校，隸忠武軍將鹿晏弘。 從楊復光攻黃巢於長安，巢已破，復光亦死，晏弘與建等無所屬，乃以麾下兵西迎僖宗於蜀，所過攻劫。 行至興元，逐牛叢，據山南。 已而不能守，晏弘東走許州，建乃奔於蜀，拜金吾衛將軍。 僖宗還長安，建為潼關防禦使、華州刺史。 華州數經大兵，戶口流散，建少賤，習農事，乃披荊棘，督民耕植，出入閭里，問其疾苦。 建初不知書，乃使人題其所服器皿床榻，為其名目以視之，久乃漸通文字。 見《玉篇》，喜曰：「吾以類求之，何所不得也。」 因以通音韻聲偶，暇則課學書史。 是時，天下已亂，諸鎮皆武夫，獨建撫緝兵民，又好學。 荊南成汭時冒姓郭，亦善緝荊楚。 當時號為「北韓南郭」。
Han Jian, styled Zuoshi, came from Changshe in Xu Prefecture. As a youth he was an officer in Cai’s army under Lu Yanhong of Zhongwu. He followed Yang Fuguang against Huang Chao at Chang’an. When Chao fell and Fuguang died, Yanhong and Jian were left masterless. They marched west to fetch Emperor Xizong from Shu, looting every mile. At Xingyuan they drove out Niu Cong and seized the southern mountains. They could not hold the ground. Yanhong fled east to Xu; Jian went to Shu and was made a Gold Crow Guard general. When Xizong returned to Chang’an, Jian became Tong Pass defense commissioner and governor of Hua. Hua had been ravaged again and again; the people had fled. Jian, raised poor and knowing the soil, cleared the scrub, drove the farmers back to the plow, and walked the lanes asking after their wants. Jian could not read at first. He had his bowls, beds, and tables marked with their names until, slowly, he learned the script. He opened the Yupian and exclaimed: “Seek by category—what can I not find?” He taught himself rhyme and tone, and in his spare hours studied history. The realm was already broken; every circuit had a warlord—only Jian soothed his soldiers and people and loved books besides. Cheng Ji of Jingnan then falsely took the surname Guo and was likewise skilled at pacifying Jing-Chu. Men called them “Han in the north, Guo in the south.”
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乾寧三年，李茂貞復犯京師，昭宗將奔太原，次渭北，建遣子允請幸華州。 昭宗又欲如鄜州，建追及昭宗於富平，泣曰：「藩臣倔強，非止茂貞，若舍近畿而巡極塞，乘輿渡河，不可復矣！」 昭宗亦泣，遂幸華州。
In Qianning 3 (896) Maozhen struck Chang’an again. Zhaozong meant to flee to Taiyuan and halted north of the Wei. Jian sent his son Yun to beg him to come to Hua. Zhaozong thought to go on to Yan. Jian overtook him at Fuping and wept: “The warlords are proud—Maozhen is not the only one. Leave the heartland for the far border, cross the river, and you will never come back!” Zhaozong wept too, and turned aside to Hua.
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是時，天子孤弱，獨有殿後軍及定州三都將李筠等兵千餘人為衛，以諸王將之。 建已得昭宗幸其鎮，遂欲制之，因請罷諸王將兵，散去殿後諸軍，累表不報。 昭宗登齊雲樓，西北顧望京師，作《菩薩蠻辭》三章以思歸，其卒章曰：「野煙生碧樹，陌上行人去。 安得有英雄，迎歸大內中？」 酒酣，與從臣悲歌泣下，建與諸王皆屬和之。 建心尤不悅，因遣人告諸王謀殺建、劫天子幸佗鎮。 昭宗召建，將辨之，建稱疾不出，乃遣諸王自詣，建不見。 請送諸王十六宅，昭宗難之。 建乃率精兵數千圍行宮，請誅李筠。 昭宗大懼，遽詔斬筠，悉散殿後及三都衛兵，幽諸王於十六宅。 昭宗益悔幸華，遣延王戒丕使於晉，以謀興復。 戒丕還，建與中尉劉季述誣諸王謀反，以兵圍十六宅，諸王皆登屋叫呼，遂見殺。 昭宗無如之何，為建立德政碑以慰安之。
The emperor stood alone and weak. Only the Rear Guard and Li Yun’s three Dingzhou companies—a thousand men or so—shielded him, led by princes. Once Zhaozong was on his ground, Jian meant to cage him. He asked that princes be stripped of command and the Rear Guard dissolved. Memorial after memorial went unanswered. Zhaozong climbed Qiyun Tower, gazed northwest toward Chang’an, and wrote three stanzas of “Bodhisattva Barbarian” yearning for home. The last runs: “Wild smoke climbs from green trees; strangers on the road pass by. Where is the hero who will bring me home to the Inner Court?” Deep in wine he and his court sang until they wept. Jian and the princes took up the refrain. Jian’s mood turned darker still. He sent word that the princes plotted to murder him and drag the emperor to another warlord. Zhaozong summoned Jian to answer the charge. Jian pleaded illness and stayed away. He made the princes come to his door. Jian refused them. He demanded the princes be confined in the Sixteen Mansions. Zhaozong balked. Jian surrounded the traveling palace with picked troops and demanded Li Yun’s head. Terrified, Zhaozong ordered Yun killed at once, broke up the Rear Guard and the three capital companies, and walled the princes in the Sixteen Mansions. Zhaozong bitterly regretted Hua and sent Prince of Yan Jiepi to Jin to plot his restoration. When Jiepi returned, Jian and Chief Eunuch Liu Jishu accused the princes of treason, ringed the Sixteen Mansions with troops, and cut them down as they screamed from the rooftops. Zhaozong was powerless to stop it and raised a monument to Han Jian’s “virtuous rule” to soothe him.
13
梁太祖以兵向長安，遣張存敬攻同州，建判官司馬鄴以城降，太祖使鄴召建，建乃出降。 太祖責建背己，建曰：「判官李巨川之謀也。」 太祖怒，即殺巨川，以建從行。
Taizu marched on Chang’an and sent Zhang Cunjing against Tong. Jian’s judge Sima Ye opened the gates; Taizu sent Ye to call Jian out, and Jian surrendered. Taizu accused Jian of betrayal. Jian said, “Judge Li Juchuan talked me into it.” Taizu flew into a rage, killed Juchuan on the spot, and kept Jian with the army.
14
昭宗東遷，建從至洛，昭宗舉酒屬太祖與建曰：「遷都之後，國步小康，社稷安危，系卿兩人。」 次何皇后舉觴，建躡太祖足，太祖乃陽醉去。 建出，謂太祖曰：「天子與宮人眼語，幕下有兵仗聲，恐公不免也。」 太祖以故尤德之，表建平盧軍節度使。
When Zhaozong moved east, Jian went with him to Luoyang. The emperor raised his cup to Taizu and Jian: “Since we left Chang’an the realm has steadied a little. The throne rests on you two.” Then Empress He offered wine. Jian stepped on Taizu’s foot; Taizu pretended to be drunk and walked out. Outside, Jian told Taizu: “The emperor was signaling the women with his eyes. I heard weapons under the curtain. They mean to kill you.” Taizu owed him his life and made him military commissioner of Pinglu.
15
太祖即位，拜司徒同中書門下平章事。 太祖性剛暴，臣下莫敢諫諍，惟建時有言，太祖亦優容之。 太祖郊於洛，建為大禮使。 罷相，出鎮許州，太祖崩，許州軍亂，見殺，年五十八。
When Taizu became emperor, Jian was made Minister of Works and open-folder chancellor. Taizu was brutal; no one else dared speak plainly. Only Jian would venture a word, and Taizu usually let it pass. When Taizu sacrificed at the suburbs of Luoyang, Jian directed the rites. Stripped of the seal, he took Xu Prefecture. When Taizu died the Xu garrison rose and killed him. He was fifty-eight.
16
李仁福
Li Renfu
17
李仁福，不知其世家。 當唐僖宗時，有拓拔思敬者，為夏州偏將，後以與破黃巢功，賜姓李氏，拜夏州節度使。 思敬卒，乾寧二年，以其弟思諫為節度使。
Of Li Renfu’s family nothing is recorded. Under Xizong a man named Tuoba Sijing was a deputy in Xia. For helping crush Huang Chao he took the imperial surname Li and became commissioner of Xia. Sijing died. In Qianning 2 his brother Sijian succeeded him at Xia.
18
自唐末天下大亂，史官實錄多闕，諸鎮因時倔起，自非有大善惡暴著於世者，不能紀其始終。 是時，興元、鳳翔、邠寧、鄜坊、河中、同華諸鎮之兵，四面並起而交爭，獨靈夏未嘗為唐患，而亦無大功。 朱玫之亂，思敬與鄜州李思孝皆以兵屯渭橋。 其後，黃巢陷京師，王重榮、李克用等會諸鎮兵討賊，思敬與破巢復京師，然皆未嘗有所可稱，故思敬之世次、功過不顯而無傳。
Late Tang chaos left the historians’ records in tatters. Petty warlords sprang up everywhere; unless a man’s deeds were glaring, no one could trace his rise and fall. Armies from Xingyuan, Fengxiang, Binning, Bianfang, Hezhong, and Tonghua clashed on every side. Only Ling and Xia stayed out of Tang’s wars—and out of its glory. During Zhu Mei’s revolt, Sijing and Li Sixiao of Bin encamped at Wei Bridge. When Chao seized Chang’an, Wang Chongrong and Li Keyong mustered the circuits against him. Sijing helped retake the city, but won no fame for it. His deeds and his line fade into silence.
19
梁開平二年，思諫卒，軍中立其子彜昌為留後，梁即拜彜昌節度使。 明年，其將高宗益作亂，殺彜昌。 是時，仁福為蕃部指揮使，戍兵於外，軍中乃迎仁福立之，不知其於思諫為親疏也。 是歲四月，拜仁福檢校司空、定難軍節度使。 終梁之世，奉正朔而已。 是時，岐王李茂貞，晉王李克用，數會兵攻仁福，梁輒出兵救之。 仁福累官至檢校太師兼中書令，封朔方王。 長興四年三月卒，其子彜超自立為留後。
In Liang Kaiping 2 Sijian died. The troops made his son Yizichang acting commissioner, and Liang confirmed him. The next year his general Gao Zongyi mutinied and killed Yizichang. Renfu was then a tribal commandant on frontier duty. The garrison brought him in and made him ruler; no one knew how he stood to Sijian. That fourth month Renfu was made Acting Minister of Works and commissioner of the Dingnan army. For all of Liang’s reign he did no more than keep the calendar. Li Maozhen of Qi and Li Keyong of Jin attacked him again and again; Liang marched to his aid each time. Renfu rose to Acting Grand Preceptor, open-folder chancellor, and Prince of Shuofang. In Changxing 4, third month, he died. His son Yichao made himself acting commissioner.
20
自仁福時，邊將多言仁福通於契丹，恐為邊患。 明宗因其卒，乃以彜超為延州刺史、彰武軍節度使，而徙彰武安從進代之。 恐彜超不受代，遣邠州藥彥稠以兵五萬送從進之鎮。 彜超果不受代，從進與彥稠以兵圍之，百餘日不克。 夏州城壁素堅，故老傳言赫連勃勃蒸土築之，從進等穴地道，至城下堅如鐵石，鑿不能入。 彜超外招党項，抄掠從進等糧道，自陜以西，民運鬥粟束芻，其費數千，人不堪命，道路愁苦。 明宗遂釋不攻，以彜超為定難軍節度使。 清泰二年卒。
From Renfu’s day border commanders whispered that he courted the Khitan and would one day bite the realm. On Renfu’s death Mingzong named Yichao commissioner of Yan and the Zhangwu army, and sent An Congjin of Zhangwu to take Xia. Lest Yichao refuse the transfer, Mingzong sent Yao Yanchou of Bin with fifty thousand men to install Congjin. Yichao would not yield. Congjin and Yanchou besieged him for a hundred days and could not break in. Xia’s walls were legendary—old men said Helian Bobo had steamed the earth to raise them. The besiegers dug a mine to the foot of the wall and struck iron-hard stone they could not cut. Yichao rallied Tangut allies to cut their supplies. West of Shaan every peck and bundle cost a fortune; the people buckled under the levy and the roads filled with lament. Mingzong lifted the siege and let Yichao keep the Dingnan commission. He died in Qingtai 2.
21
其弟彜興，累官檢校太師兼侍中，周顯德中，封西平王，其後事具國史。 ○韓遜
His brother Yixing became Acting Grand Preceptor and Palace Attendant, was made Prince of Xiping under Zhou Xiande, and passes from this account into the official histories. ○ Han Xun
22
韓遜，不知其世家。 初為靈武軍校，當唐末之亂，據有靈鹽，唐即以為節度使，而史失不錄，不見其事。 梁開平三年，封朔方節度使韓遜為潁川王，始見於史。 是時，邠寧楊崇本、鄜延李周彜、鳳翔李茂貞，皆與梁爭戰，獨遜與夏州李思諫臣屬於梁，未嘗以兵爭。 李茂貞嘗遣劉知俊攻遜，不能克，遜亦善撫其部，人皆愛之，為遜立生祠。
Of Han Xun’s family nothing is recorded. He began as an officer at Lingwu. When Tang collapsed he seized Ling and Salt and Tang named him commissioner—but the record is lost and his story vanished. In Liang Kaiping 3 Shuofang commissioner Han Xun was made Prince of Yingchuan—the first trace of him in the annals. Yang Chongben of Bin, Li Zhouyi of Yan’an, and Li Maozhen of Fengxiang were all at war with Liang. Only Xun and Li Sijian of Xia bowed to Liang and kept the peace. Maozhen sent Liu Zhijun against him and failed. Xun ruled his people gently; they loved him and raised living shrines in his name.
23
貞明中，遜卒，軍中立其子洙為留後，梁即以為節度使。 至莊宗時，又以洙兼河西節度。 天成四年，洙卒，即以洙子澄為朔方軍留後。 其將李賓作亂，澄乃上章請師於朝，明宗以康福為朔方河西節度使以代澄，由是命吏而相代矣。 韓氏自遜有靈武，傳世皆無所稱述，澄後不知其所終。
In the Zhenming era Xun died. The troops made his son Zhu acting commissioner, and Liang confirmed him. Under Zhuangzong, Zhu also received the Hexi commission. In Tiancheng 4 Zhu died; his son Cheng became acting commissioner of Shuofang. General Li Bin mutinied. Cheng begged the court for help. Mingzong sent Kang Fu to replace him as commissioner of Shuofang and Hexi—the Han line ended and imperial appointees took over. From Xun’s day at Lingwu the Hans left nothing worth a line in the histories. After Cheng, their fate is unknown.
24
楊崇本
Yang Chongben
25
楊崇本，幼事李茂貞，養以為子，冒姓李，名曰繼徽，茂貞表崇本靜難軍節度使。 梁太祖攻岐未下，乃移兵攻邠州，崇本迎降，太祖使復其姓，賜名崇本，遷其家於河中以為質。 崇本妻有美色，太祖用兵，往來河中，嘗幸之。 崇本妻頗愧恥，間遣人誚崇本曰：「大丈夫不能庇其伉儷，我已為朱公婦矣，無面視君，有刀繩而已！」 崇本涕泣憤怒。 其後梁兵解岐圍，崇本妻得歸，崇本乃復背梁歸茂貞。 茂貞西連蜀兵會崇本攻雍、華，關西大震。 太祖以兵西至河中，遣郴王友裕擊之，友裕至永壽而卒，梁兵乃旋。 崇本屯美原，太祖復遣劉知俊、康懷英等擊之，崇本大敗，自此不復東。 乾化四年，為其子彥魯所殺。 崇本養子李保衡，殺彥魯以降梁。
Yang Chongben grew up in Li Maozhen’s service, was adopted, took the Li surname and the name Jihui, and was made commissioner of Jingnan. Taizu could not crack Qi and turned on Bin. Chongben surrendered. Taizu restored his Yang surname, renamed him Chongben, and took his family to Hezhong as hostages. Chongben’s wife was famed for her beauty. Whenever Taizu marched through Hezhong he slept with her. Ashamed beyond bearing, she sent word: “What kind of man cannot protect his own wife? I am Zhu’s woman now. I cannot meet your eyes—only rope or steel remain!” Chongben wept and raged. When Liang raised the siege of Qi his wife came home. Chongben broke with Liang and returned to Maozhen. Maozhen allied with Shu in the west and, with Chongben, struck Yong and Hua. The land beyond the Pass trembled. Taizu marched to Hezhong and sent Prince Youyu of Chen against them. Youyu died at Yongshou, and Liang turned back. Chongben held Meiyuan. Taizu sent Liu Zhijun and Kang Huaiying against him and broke him so completely he never marched east again. In Qianhua 4 his son Yanlu murdered him. His adopted son Li Baoheng killed Yanlu and submitted to Liang.
26
高萬興
Gao Wanxing
27
高萬興，河西人也。 唐末，河西屬李茂貞，茂貞將胡敬璋為延州刺史，萬興與其弟萬金俱事敬璋為騎將。 敬璋死，其將劉萬子代為刺史。 梁開平二年，葬於州南，萬子在會，其將許從實殺萬子，自為延州刺史。 是時，萬興兄弟皆將兵戍境上，聞萬子死，以其部下數千人，降梁。
Gao Wanxing came from Hexi. Late Tang Hexi lay under Li Maozhen. Maozhen’s Hu Jingzhang held Yan; Wanxing and his brother Wanjin served him as cavalry officers. Jingzhang died. His officer Liu Wanzi became prefect. In Liang Kaiping 2, as they buried Jingzhang south of the city, Wanzi was at the rites. Officer Xu Congshi killed him and seized Yan. The brothers were then on frontier duty. Hearing of Wanzi’s death, they led several thousand men to Liang.
28
梁太祖兵屯河中，遣同州劉知俊以兵應萬興，攻丹州，執其刺史崔公實。 進攻延州，執許從實。 鄜州李彥容、坊州李彥昱皆棄城走。 梁太祖乃以萬興為延州刺史、忠義軍節度使，以牛存節為保大軍節度使。 已而劉知俊叛，乃徙存節守同州，以萬金為保大軍節度使。 萬興累遷檢校太師兼中書令，渤海郡王。 貞明四年，萬金卒，乃以萬興為鄜延節度使，進封延安郡王，徙封北平王。 梁亡，莊宗入洛，萬興嘗一來朝。 同光三年，卒於鎮。
Taizu was at Hezhong. He sent Liu Zhijun of Tong to join Wanxing, took Dan, and captured Prefect Cui Gongshi. They pressed on to Yan and took Xu Congshi. Li Yanrong of Bin and Li Yanyu of Fang abandoned their posts and ran. Taizu made Wanxing commissioner of Yan and the Zhongyi army, and Niu Cunjie commissioner of the Baoda army. Soon Liu Zhijun rebelled. Cunjie was shifted to Tong; Wanjin took Baoda. Wanxing rose to Acting Grand Preceptor, open-folder chancellor, and Prince of Bohai. In Zhenming 4 Wanjin died. Wanxing took Bianyan, was made Prince of Yan’an, then Prince of Beiping. When Liang fell and Zhuangzong took Luoyang, Wanxing came to court once. He died in office in Tongguang 3.
29
萬興兄弟皆驍勇，而未嘗立戰功，然以戍兵降梁，梁取鄜、坊、丹、延自萬興始，故其兄弟世守其土。
The brothers were fierce riders who never won a famous battle—yet by leading frontier garrisons to Liang they handed Bin, Fang, Dan, and Yan to the dynasty, and their line held that country for generations.
30
萬興死，子允韜代立，長興元年徙鎮安國，又徙義成，清泰中卒。
Wanxing’s son Yuntao succeeded him, was shifted to Anguo in Changxing 1, then to Yicheng, and died in the Qingtai era.
31
萬金子允權，開運中為膚施令，罷居於家。 是時，周密為彰信軍節度使，契丹滅晉，延州軍亂，逐密，密守東城，而西城之兵以允權為留後。 聞漢高祖起太原，遂歸漢，即拜節度使，廣順三年卒。
Another son, Yunquan, was magistrate of Fushi under Later Jin’s Kaiyun era, then retired home. Zhou Mi held Zhangxin when the Khitan destroyed Jin. Yan’s garrison revolted, drove Mi into the eastern city, and made Yunquan acting commissioner in the west. When he heard Gaozu of Han was rising at Taiyuan he submitted and was confirmed commissioner; he died in Guangshun 3.
32
溫韜，京兆華原人也。 少為盜，後事李茂貞，為華原鎮將，冒姓李，名彥韜。 茂貞以華原縣為耀州，以韜為刺史。 梁太祖圍茂貞於鳳翔，韜以耀州降梁，已而復叛歸茂貞。 茂貞又以美原縣為鼎州，建義勝軍，以韜為節度使。 末帝時，韜復叛茂貞降梁，梁改耀州為崇州，鼎州為裕州，義勝為靜勝軍，即以韜為節度使，復其姓溫，更其名曰昭圖。
Wen Tao was from Huayuan in Jingzhao. As a youth he robbed on the roads. He entered Maozhen’s service, became garrison commander of Huayuan, took the Li surname, and was called Yanbiao. Maozhen raised Huayuan to Yao Prefecture and made Tao its prefect. Taizu besieged Maozhen at Fengxiang. Tao surrendered Yao, then rebelled back to Maozhen. Maozhen then made Meiyuan into Ding Prefecture, created the Yisheng army, and made Tao its commissioner. Under the Last Emperor he broke with Maozhen again and joined Liang. Liang renamed Yao Chong, Ding Yu, and Yisheng Jingsheng; Tao kept the commission, took back the Wen surname, and was renamed Zhaotu.
33
韜在鎮七年，唐諸陵在其境內者，悉發掘之，取其所藏金寶，而昭陵最固，韜從埏道下，見宮室制度閎麗，不異人間，中為正寢，東西廂列石床，床上石函中為鐵匣，悉藏前世圖書，鐘、王筆跡，紙墨如新，韜悉取之，遂傳人間，惟乾陵風雨不可發。
Seven years he ruled that land. Every Tang imperial tomb in his circuit he plundered for its gold—but Zhaoling resisted him longest. He entered by the spirit tunnel and found halls as splendid as any palace: a central chamber, side rooms with stone couches, iron caskets within stone boxes holding ancient books, ritual bells, and Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy, ink and paper fresh as the day they were laid in. He took everything. Only at Qianling did wind and rain turn his men back.
34
其後朱友謙叛梁，取同州，晉王以兵援友謙而趨華原，韜懼，求徙佗鎮，遂徙忠武。 莊宗滅梁，韜自許來朝，因伶人景進納賂劉皇后，皇后為言之，莊宗待韜甚厚，賜姓名曰李紹沖。 郭崇韜曰：「此劫陵賊爾，罪不可赦！」 莊宗曰：「已宥之矣，不可失信。」 遽遣還鎮。 明宗入洛，與段凝俱收下獄，已而赦之，勒歸田里。 明年，流於德州，賜死。
When Zhu Youqian rebelled and took Tong, Jin marched to help him and threatened Huayuan. Tao begged a new post and was shifted to Zhongwu. When Zhuangzong destroyed Liang, Tao came from Xu to court, bribed Empress Liu through the actor Jing Jin, and won her word. Zhuangzong favored him lavishly and renamed him Li Shaogong. Guo Chongtao said, “He is a tomb-robber. His crime admits no mercy!” Zhuangzong said, “I have already spared him. A ruler cannot eat his word.” He sent him back to his command at once. When Mingzong took Luoyang he and Duan Ning were thrown into prison, then pardoned and sent home. The next year he was exiled to Dezhou and granted death.
35
嗚呼，厚葬之弊，自秦漢已來，率多聰明英偉之主，雖有高談善說之士，極陳其禍福，有不能開其惑者矣！ 豈非富貴之欲，溺其所自私者篤，而未然之禍，難述於無形，不足以動其心歟？ 然而聞溫韜之事者，可以少戒也！ 五代之君，往往不得其死，何暇顧其後哉！ 獨周太祖能鑒韜之禍，其將終也，為書以遺世宗，使以瓦棺、紙衣而斂。 將葬，開棺示人，既葬，刻石以告後世，毋作下宮，毋置守陵妾。 其意丁寧切至，然實錄不書其葬之薄厚也。 又使葬其平生所服袞冕、通天冠、絳紗袍各二，其一於京師，其一於澶州； 又葬其劍、甲各二，其一於河中，其一於大名者，莫能原其旨也。
Alas—the curse of rich tombs! Since Qin and Han it has chiefly seduced the clever and the bold. Eloquent men preached disaster in vain; they could not pierce the delusion. Men drown in the wish for glory while the unseen ruin ahead has no shape to frighten them—how should it stir the heart? Yet Wen Tao’s story might warn even the stubborn a little. Five Dynasties emperors rarely died in bed. Who had leisure to plan for the dead? Only Zhou Taizu took Tao’s lesson to heart. On his deathbed he wrote Shizong: bury me in a tile coffin clad in paper. Before burial he opened the coffin for all to see, then carved stone for posterity: no underground palace, no concubines to guard the mound. He meant every word—and still the veritable record does not say whether the grave was humble or grand. He also had duplicate sets of the regalia he had worn in life—the full court dress, the Tongtian crown, the crimson gauze gown—buried two of each, one at the capital and one at Chunzhou; The same for his sword and armor: two of each, one laid in the earth at Hezhong, one at Daming. None could read what he meant.