1
盧光稠譚全播
Lu Guangchou and Tan Quanbo
2
盧光稠、譚全播，皆南康人也。 光稠狀貌雄偉，無佗材能，而全播勇敢有識略，然全播常奇光稠為人。 唐末，群盜起南方，全播謂光稠曰：「天下洶洶，此真吾等之時，無徒守此貧賤為也！」 乃相與聚兵為盜。 眾推全播為主，全播曰：「諸君徒為賊乎？ 而欲成功乎？ 若欲成功，當得良帥，盧公堂堂，真君等主也。」 眾陽諾之，全播怒，拔劍擊木三，斬之，曰：「不從令者如此木！」 眾懼，乃立光稠為帥。
Lu Guangchou and Tan Quanbo were both men of Nankang. Guangchou looked the part of a warlord but had little else to recommend him. Quanbo was brave and shrewd, yet he kept finding something remarkable in Guangchou’s character. As Tang collapsed, rebels swarmed the south. Quanbo told Guangchou: “The empire is boiling over. This is our moment—don’t waste it clinging to poverty and obscurity!” They raised men and turned to the hills. The men wanted Quanbo as their leader. Quanbo said: “Do you mean to stay mere bandits? Or do you mean to win something that lasts? If you want to last, you need a real commander. Master Lu has the bearing of a lord—he is the man for you.” The men nodded along. Quanbo flew into a rage, drew his sword, and hacked a wooden post three times until it fell. “Disobey,” he said, “and you go the way of this timber!” The men quailed, and Guangchou was made commander.
3
是時，王潮攻陷嶺南，全播攻潮，取其虔、韶二州，又遣光稠弟光睦攻潮州。 光睦好勇而輕進，全播戒其持重，不聽，度其必敗，乃為奇兵伏其歸路。 光睦果敗走，潮人追之，全播以伏兵邀擊，大敗之，遂取潮州。 是時，劉巖起南海，擊走光睦，以兵數萬攻虔州。 光稠大懼，謂全播曰：「虔、潮皆公取之，今日非公不能守也。」 全播曰：「吾知劉巖易與爾！」 乃選精兵萬人，伏山谷中，陽治戰地於城南，告巖戰期。 以老弱五千出戰，戰酣，偽北，巖急追之，伏兵發，巖遂大敗。 光稠第戰功，全播悉推諸將，光稠心益賢之。
Wang Chao had seized Lingnan. Quanbo struck back, took Qian and Shao from him, and sent Guangchou’s brother Guangmu against Chaozhou. Guangmu was brave and reckless. Quanbo told him to keep his weight behind the line; Guangmu ignored him. Quanbo read the defeat coming and hid men on the road home. Guangmu broke and ran. Chao’s men gave chase. Quanbo sprang the ambush and shattered them, then took Chaozhou. Liu Yan was rising on the southern coast. He brushed Guangmu aside and marched tens of thousands of men on Ganzhou. Guangchou was terrified. He told Quanbo: “You won Qian and Chao for us. Only you can hold them now.” Quanbo said: “Liu Yan is nothing I cannot handle!” He picked ten thousand elite men and hid them in the hills, staged a battlefield south of the walls, and named a day to fight. He marched out five thousand aged and weak soldiers, fought until the heat of battle, then pretended to break north. Yan rushed after him. The ambush rose; Yan’s army collapsed. When honors were handed out, Quanbo gave every laurel to his generals. Guangchou admired him all the more for it.
4
梁初，江南、嶺表悉為吳與南漢分據，而光稠獨以虔、韶二州請命於京師，願通道路，輸貢賦。 太祖為置百勝軍，以光稠為防禦使、兼五嶺開通使，又建鎮南軍，以為留後。
Early in Liang, Jiangnan and Lingnan were carved up between Wu and Southern Han. Guangchou alone held Qian and Shao, bowed to the court, and asked for roads and tribute. Liang Taizu Zhu Wen raised the Hundred Victories Army, made Guangchou defense commissioner and commissioner to open the Five Ridges, then founded the Pacify-the-South Army and kept him as military governor.
5
開平五年，光稠病，以符印屬全播，全播不受。 光稠卒，全播立其子延昌而事之。 延昌好遊獵，其將黎求閉門拒延昌，延昌見殺。 求因謀殺全播，全播懼，稱疾不出。 求乃自立，請命於梁。 乾化元年，拜求防禦使。 求暴病死，其將李彥圖自立，全播益懼，遂稱疾篤，杜門自絕。 彥圖疑之，使人覘其動靜，全播應覘為狀以自免。 彥圖死，州人相率詣全播第，扣門請之，全播乃起，遣使請命於梁，拜防禦使。 全播治虔州七年，有善政，楊隆演遣劉信攻破虔州，以全播歸廣陵，卒年八十五。 當盧氏時，劉龑已取韶州，及全播被執，虔州遂入於吳。
In Kaiping 5 (911) Guangchou fell ill and pressed his seals on Quanbo. Quanbo refused. Guangchou died. Quanbo set up his son Yanchang and served him loyally. Yanchang lived for the hunt. His general Li Qiu barred the gates against him and had him killed. Qiu plotted Quanbo’s death next. Quanbo took fright, claimed illness, and would not leave his house. Qiu seized power for himself and sued for recognition from Liang. In Qianhua 1 (911) Liang made Qiu defense commissioner. Qiu died in a sudden fit of violence. His officer Li Yantu made himself chief. Quanbo, more afraid than ever, declared himself dying, barred his gate, and vanished from sight. Yantu did not trust the act and sent watchers. Quanbo played sick for them until they believed him. Yantu died. The townspeople mobbed Quanbo’s gate and begged him to rule. Quanbo came out, sent word to Liang, and was made defense commissioner. Quanbo ruled Ganzhou seven years and governed well. Yang Longyan of Wu sent Liu Xin to take the city, carried Quanbo off to Guangling, and there he died at eighty-five. Under the Lu clan Liu Yan had already seized Shaozhou. Once Quanbo was taken, Ganzhou passed to Wu.
6
雷滿，武陵人也。 為人兇悍獢勇，文身斷髪。 唐廣明中，湖南饑，盜賊起，滿與同里人區景思、周嶽等聚諸蠻數千，獵於大澤中，乃擊鮮釃酒，擇坐中豪者，補置伍長，號土團軍，諸蠻從之，推滿為帥。 是時，高駢鎮荊南，召滿隸麾下，使以蠻軍擊賊。 駢徙淮南，滿從至廣陵，逃歸，殺刺史崔翥，遂據朗州，請命於唐。 昭宗以澧、朗為武貞軍，拜滿節度使。
Lei Man came from Wuling. He was brutal, reckless, and wild—tattooed and shorn in the barbarian way. In the Guangming era famine gripped Hunan and outlaws multiplied. Man, Qu Jingsi, Zhou Yue, and others rallied thousands of hill folk, hunted the great marshes, feasted on fresh kill and strong wine, named the fiercest men squad leaders, and called the band the Native Corps. The tribes followed, and Man became their chief. Gao Pian then held Jingnan. He took Man into his service and set his barbarians on the bandits. When Pian moved to Huainan, Man followed him to Guangling, then bolted home, murdered the prefect Cui Zhu, seized Langzhou, and bowed to Tang. Zhaozong formed the Wuzhen circuit from Li and Lang and made Man its military commissioner.
7
是時，澧陽人向瑰殺刺史呂自牧據澧州，而溪洞諸蠻宋鄴昌、師益等，皆起兵剽掠湖外，滿亦以輕舟上下荊江，攻劫州縣。 楊行密攻杜洪於鄂州，荊南成汭出兵救洪，汭戰敗，溺死於君山。 滿襲破荊南，不能守，焚掠殆盡而去。
Xiang Gui of Liyang killed his prefect Lü Zimu and held Lizhou. Cave chiefs such as Song Yechang and Shi Yi raided the country beyond the lakes. Man skimmed the Yangzi in swift boats, sacking towns along the river. Yang Xingmi besieged Du Hong at Ezhou. Cheng Ru of Jingnan sailed to his aid, was beaten, and drowned off Jun Hill. Man stormed Jingnan, could not keep it, burned what he could not carry, and left.
8
滿嘗鑿深池於府中，客有過者，召宴池上，指其水曰：「蛟龍水怪皆窟於此，蓋水府也。」 酒酣，取坐上器擲池中，因裸而入，取器嬉水上，久之乃出，治衣復坐，意氣自若。
Man dug a deep pool inside his yamen. When guests came he feasted them beside it and said, pointing at the water: “Dragons and river demons live down there. Call it a water palace.” Deep in wine he hurled tableware into the pool, stripped, dove after the pieces, played with them on the surface a long while, then climbed out, dressed, and sat down as calmly as before.
9
鍾傳，洪州高安人也。 事州為小校，黃巢攻掠江淮，所在盜起，往往據州縣。 傳以州兵擊賊，頻勝，遂逐觀察使，自稱留後。 唐以洪州為鎮南軍，拜傳節度使。 江夏伶人杜洪者，亦據鄂州，楊行密屢攻之，洪頗倚傳為首尾。 久之，洪敗死。 是時，危全諷、韓師德等分據撫、吉諸州，傳皆不能節度，以兵攻之，稍聽命，獨全諷不能下，乃自率兵圍之。 城中夜火起，諸將請急攻之，傳曰：「吾聞君子不迫人之危。」 乃掃地祭天，向城再拜，祝曰：「全諷不降，非民之罪，願天止火。」 全諷聞之，明日乃亦聽命，請以女妻傳子匡時。 傳居江西三十餘年，累拜太保、中書令，封南平王。 天祐三年，傳卒，子匡時自稱留後，請命於唐。 全諷曰：「聽鍾郎為節度使三年，吾將自為之。」 已而傳養子延規與匡時爭立，乞兵於楊渥，渥遣秦裴等攻匡時，匡時敗，被執歸廣陵。 開平三年，全諷等起兵江西，謀復鍾氏故地，全諷為楊隆演將周本所敗，江西遂入於吳。
Zhong Chuan came from Gao’an in Hong Prefecture. He was a petty officer of the prefecture. Huang Chao ravaged the Jiang-Huai; in his wake rebels seized town after town. Chuan beat the bandits again and again with prefectural troops, drove out the observation commissioner, and called himself acting governor. Tang made Hong the Pacify-the-South circuit and named Chuan its commissioner. Du Hong, a Jiangxia player turned warlord, held Ezhou. Yang Xingmi struck him again and again, and Hong counted on Chuan to guard his back. In time Hong was broken and killed. Wei Quanfeng, Han Shide, and others held Fu and Ji. Chuan could not rule them from afar; he marched on them until most bent the knee. Only Quanfeng held out, so Chuan went in person to besiege him. Night fires flared inside the walls. His generals begged to storm the city. Chuan said: “A gentleman does not kick a man when he is down.” He swept clean ground, offered to Heaven, bowed twice toward the walls, and prayed: “If Quanfeng will not yield, the fault is not the people’s. Let the fire die.” Quanfeng heard the prayer. The next day he submitted and offered his daughter to Chuan’s son Kuangshi. Chuan held Jiangxi for more than thirty years, rose to Grand Guardian and Secretariat Director, and was made Prince of Nanping. In Tianyou 3 (906) Chuan died. His son Kuangshi called himself acting governor and bowed to Tang. Quanfeng said: “I let old Zhong keep the seal three years. Now it is my turn.” Soon Chuan’s adopted son Yangui fought Kuangshi for power and called on Yang Wo. Wo sent Qin Pei and others against Kuangshi, broke him, and carried him off to Guangling. In Kaiping 3 (909) Quanfeng and his allies rose in Jiangxi to restore the Zhong domain. Yang Longyan’s general Zhou Ben crushed them, and Jiangxi passed to Wu.
10
趙匡凝
Zhao Kuangning
11
趙匡凝，字光儀，蔡州人也。 其父德諲事秦宗權，為申州刺史。 宗權反，德諲攻下襄陽。 梁太祖攻蔡州，宗權屢敗，德諲乃以山南東道七州降。 梁太祖初鎮宣武，嘗為宗權所困，聞德諲降，大喜，表為行營副都統，河陽、保義、義昌三節度行軍司馬。 會其兵以攻蔡州，破之，德諲功多。 德諲卒，子匡凝自立。 是時，成汭死，雷彥恭襲取荊南，匡凝遣其弟匡明逐彥恭，太祖表匡凝荊襄節度使，以匡明為荊南留後。 是時，唐衰，藩鎮不復奉朝廷，獨匡凝兄弟貢賦不絕。
Zhao Kuangning, styled Guangyi, came from Cai Prefecture. His father Zhao Dexin served Qin Zongquan and became prefect of Shen. When Zongquan turned rebel, Dexin took Xiangyang. Zhu Wen attacked Cai again and again until Zongquan broke. Dexin then surrendered all seven prefectures of Shannan East. Zhu Wen, newly made lord of Xuanyi, had once been cornered by Zongquan. Dexin’s surrender delighted him. He made Dexin deputy supreme commander of the field army and liaison commissioner for Heyang, Baoyi, and Yichang. Dexin marched with him on Cai and helped break the city. His merit stood high. Dexin died, and Kuangning seized power for himself. Cheng Ru was dead and Lei Yan’gong had taken Jingnan. Kuangning sent his brother Kuangming to expel him. Zhu Wen made Kuangning commissioner of Jing-Xiang and Kuangming acting governor of Jingnan. Tang was failing and the warlords had stopped paying the court—only the Kuangning brothers still sent tribute without fail.
12
匡凝為人氣貌甚偉，性方嚴，喜自修飾，頗好學問，聚書數千卷，為政有威惠。 太祖攻兗州，朱瑾求救於晉，晉遣史儼等將兵數千救瑾，瑾敗，與儼等奔於淮南。 晉王李克用遣人以書幣假道於匡凝，以聘於楊行密，求歸儼等。 晉王使者為梁得，太祖大怒。 是時，梁已破兗、鄆，遣氏叔琮、康懷英等攻匡凝，叔琮取泌、隨二州，懷英取鄧州，匡凝懼，請盟，乃止。
Kuangning was tall and stern, fastidious about his dress, fond of books, and kept libraries in the thousands. He ruled with iron and with mercy. When Zhu Wen attacked Yan, Zhu Jin called on Jin. Li Keyong sent Shi Yan and a few thousand men. Jin fell anyway, and Jin, Zhu, Shi Yan, and the rest fled to Huainan. Li Keyong of Jin sent envoys with letters and gifts to ask passage through Kuangning’s lands and an audience with Yang Xingmi, seeking Yan and his men back. Liang intercepted Jin’s envoys. Zhu Wen flew into a rage. Liang had already taken Yan and Yun. Zhu Wen sent Shi Shuzong and Kang Huaiying against Kuangning. Shuzong seized Bi and Sui; Huaiying took Deng. Kuangning sued for peace, and the assault stopped.
13
太祖弒昭宗，將謀代唐，畏匡凝兄弟不從，遣使告之，匡凝對使者流涕答曰：「受唐恩深，不敢妄有佗誌。」 太祖遣楊師厚攻之，太祖以兵殿漢北，匡凝戰敗，以輕舟奔於楊行密。 師厚進攻荊南，匡明奔於蜀。 匡凝至廣陵，行密見之，戲曰：「君在鎮時，輕車重馬，歲輸於梁，今敗乃歸我乎？」 匡凝曰：「僕世為唐臣，歲時職貢，非輸賊也。 今以不從賊之故，力屈歸公，惟公生死之耳！」 行密厚遇之。 其後行密死，楊渥稍不禮之。 渥方宴，食青梅，匡凝顧渥曰：「勿多食，發小兒熱。」 諸將以為慢，渥遷匡凝海陵，後為徐溫所殺。 匡明卒於蜀。
When Zhu Wen killed Zhaozong and moved to take the throne, he feared the Kuangning brothers would refuse him. He sent word ahead. Kuangning wept before the envoys and said: “Tang’s kindness to me runs deep. I dare not dream of any other allegiance.” Zhu Wen sent Yang Shihou against him and marched in person on the Han north. Kuangning broke, took a light boat, and fled to Yang Xingmi. Shihou drove on Jingnan. Kuangming fled into Shu. At Guangling Yang Xingmi greeted him with a jest: “In your own domain you sent light carts and heavy horses every year to Liang. Broken now, you run to me?” Kuangning said: “My house has been Tang’s for generations. The yearly gifts were tribute owed the throne, not tribute to a thief. I would not follow the usurper, and here I am, spent. Do with me as you will!” Yang Xingmi treated him with honor. When Xingmi died, his son Yang Wo grew cold toward him. Wo was feasting on green plums when Kuangning looked over and said: “Don’t eat too many. They heat a child’s blood.” The officers read it as insult. Wo banished him to Hailing. Later Xu Wen had him killed. Kuangming died in Shu.