1
韋孝寬韋敻梁士彥
Biographies of Wei Xiaokuan, Wei Xiong, and Liang Shiyan
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韋叔裕字孝寬，京兆杜陵人也，少以字行。 世為三輔著姓。 祖直善，魏馮翊、扶風二郡守。 父旭，武威郡守。 建義初，為大行臺右丞，加輔國將軍、雍州大中正。 永安二年，拜右將軍、南 （幽） 〔豳〕州刺史。 時氐賊數為抄竊，旭隨機招撫，竝即歸附。 尋卒官。 贈司空、冀州刺史，諡曰文惠。
Wei Shuyu, courtesy name Xiaokuan, came from Duling in Jingzhao commandery and was known from youth by his style rather than his given name. For generations they were a leading clan of the Three Adjuncts around Chang'an. His grandfather Zhishan had been administrator of both Fenyang and Fufeng commanderies under Wei. His father Xu served as administrator of Wuwei commandery. At the opening of the Jianyi era he became right assistant of the grand commissionerate, with the additional titles General Who Assists the State and grand rectifier of Yong Province. In the second year of Yongan he was made General of the Right and inspector of southern [emended: Bīn] Bīn Province. Di raiders had been striking again and again; Xu met each case as it came, offering inducements, and they submitted at once. He soon died in office. He was posthumously made minister of works and inspector of Ji, with the posthumous name Wen Hui.
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孝寬沉敏和正，涉獵經史。 弱冠，屬蕭寶夤作亂關右，乃詣闕，請為軍前驅。 朝廷嘉之，即拜統軍。 隨馮翊公長孫承業西征，每戰有功。 拜國子博士，行華 （陰） 〔山〕郡事。 屬侍中楊侃為大都督，出鎮潼關，引孝寬為司馬。 侃奇其才，以女妻之。 永安中，授宣威將軍、給事中，尋賜爵山北縣男。 普泰中，以都督從荊州刺史源子恭鎮襄城，以功除 （浙） 〔析〕陽郡守。 時獨孤信為新野郡守， （司） 〔同〕荊州，與孝寬情好款密，政術俱美，荊部吏人，號為聯璧。 孝武初，以都督鎮城。 文帝自原州赴雍州，命孝寬隨軍。 及剋潼關，即授弘農郡守。 從擒竇泰，兼左丞，節度宜陽兵馬事。 仍與獨孤信入洛陽城守。 復與宇文貴、怡峰應接潁州義徒，破東魏將任祥、堯雄於潁川。 孝寬又進平樂口，下豫州，獲刺史馮邕。 又從戰於河橋。 時大軍不利，邊境騷然，乃令孝寬以大將軍行宜陽郡事。 尋遷南兗州刺史。
Xiaokuan was grave, quick-witted, even-tempered, and upright, with a working knowledge of the classics and histories. At twenty, when Xiao Baoyin rebelled in the Guanzhong region, he went to court and volunteered to lead the van. The court commended his offer and immediately made him a corps commander. He marched west under Duke of Fenyang Changsun Chengye and distinguished himself in every engagement. He was appointed erudite of the National University and given acting charge of Hua [emended: Shān] commandery affairs. When palace attendant Yang Kan was made grand area commander and posted to Tong Pass, he took Xiaokuan on as his chief of staff. Kan, struck by his ability, gave him his daughter in marriage. During Yongan he received the titles General Who Proclaims Might and gentleman attendant-in-ordinary, and was soon enfeoffed Baron of Shanbei. In Putai he served as area commander under Inspector of Jing Yuan Zigong at the Xiangcheng garrison and, for merit, was appointed [emended: Xī] administrator of Xiyang commandery. At that time Dugu Xin was administrator of Xinye commandery, [emended: Tóng] and also of Jing Province; he and Xiaokuan were close as brothers, and both governed with distinction — the people of Jing spoke of them as paired jades. Early in Emperor Xiaowu's reign he garrisoned the city as area commander. When Yuwen Tai marched from Yuan Province to Yong Province, Xiaokuan was ordered to accompany the army. Once Tong Pass fell, he was immediately made administrator of Hongnong. After Dou Tai was taken, he was also made left assistant and put in charge of the forces at Yiyang. He entered Luoyang again with Dugu Xin to hold the city. He marched again with Yuwen Gui and Yi Feng to support the loyalists of Ying Province and routed the Eastern Wei commanders Ren Xiang and Yao Xiong at Yingchuan. Xiaokuan pushed on to secure Lekou, took Yuzhou, and captured its inspector, Feng Yong. He fought again at He Bridge. When the main force suffered defeat and the frontier shook, Xiaokuan was ordered to serve as acting grand general and administer Yiyang commandery. He was soon transferred to inspector of Southern Yan Province.
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是歲，東魏將段琛、堯傑復據宜陽，遣其 （揚） 〔陽〕州刺史牛道恒扇誘邊民。 孝寬深患之，乃遣諜人訪獲道恒手跡，令善學書者偽作道恒與孝寬書，論歸款意，又為落燼燒跡，若火下書者，還令諜人送於琛營。 琛得書，果疑道恒，其所欲經略，皆不見用。 孝寬知其離阻，日出奇兵掩襲，擒道恒及琛等，崤、澠遂清。
That year the Eastern Wei generals Duan Chen and Yao Jie reoccupied Yiyang and sent their [emended: Yáng] inspector of Yang Province, Niu Daoheng, to win over the frontier population. The situation troubled Xiaokuan deeply. He sent agents who obtained samples of Daoheng's hand, had a skilled calligrapher forge a letter from Daoheng to Xiaokuan proposing defection, singed the edges with embers as though the note had been written amid fire, and sent the agents to deliver it to Chen's camp. Chen read the letter and came to distrust Daoheng; none of the schemes he had in mind was put into effect. Once Xiaokuan saw the rift between them, he sent raiding parties out daily by surprise, captured Daoheng and Chen, and cleared the Xiao and Mian corridor.
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大統五年，進爵為侯。 八年，轉晉州刺史，尋移鎮玉壁，兼攝南汾州事。 先是山胡負險，屢為劫盜，孝寬示以威信，州境肅然。 進授大都督。
In the fifth year of Datong he was raised to marquis. In the eighth year he was made inspector of Jin, then shifted his headquarters to Yubi while also overseeing Southern Fen Province. The mountain Hu had long used the rough country to raid at will; Xiaokuan combined firmness with trust, and the province settled. He was further made grand area commander.
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十二年，齊神武傾山東之眾，志圖西入，以玉壁沖要，先命攻之。 連營數十里，至於城下，乃於城南起土山，欲乘之以入。 當其山處，城上先有兩高樓。 孝寬更縛木接之，命極高峻，多積戰具以禦之。 齊神武使謂城中曰：「縱爾縛樓至天，我會穿城取爾。」 遂於城南鑿地道。 又於城北起土山，攻具，晝夜不息。 孝寬復掘長塹，要其地道，仍飭戰士屯塹。 城外每穿至塹，戰士即擒殺之。 又於塹外積柴貯火，敵人有伏地道內者，便下柴火，以皮韝吹之。 吹氣一沖，咸即灼爛。 城外又造攻車，車之所及，莫不摧毀。 雖有排楯，莫之能抗。 孝寬乃縫布為縵，隨其所向則張設之。 布既懸於空中，其車竟不能壞。 城外又縛松於竿，灌油加火，規以燒布，并欲焚樓。 孝寬復長作鐵鉤，利其鋒刃，火竿來，以鉤遙割之，松麻俱落。 外又於城四面穿地，作二十一道，分為四路，於其中各施樑柱，作訖，以油灌柱，放火燒之，柱折，城并崩壞。 孝寬又隨崩處豎木柵以扞之，敵不得入。 城外盡其攻擊之術，孝寬咸拒破之。
In the twelfth year Gao Huan gathered the armies of the east with the aim of pushing west; Yubi stood on the critical line, and he struck there first. His camps stretched for tens of li to the foot of the walls; south of the city he piled an earthen mound, planning to roll over the ramparts on its height. On the very ground where the mound was rising, the defenders already held two high towers. Xiaokuan lashed timbers to the towers and raised them still higher, stacking arms and engines on the platforms to meet the assault. Gao Huan sent a message into the city: "Bind your towers to the heavens if you like — I will still bore under your wall and take you." Then he opened a tunnel south of the walls. North of the city he raised another mound and siege engines, pressing the attack day and night without pause. Xiaokuan countered by cutting a long trench across the tunnel's path and posting fighters along it. Whenever the diggers broke through into the trench, the men waiting there killed them on the spot. He also piled brush and kindling beyond the trench; when enemies crouched in the tunnel, the defenders dropped fire and fanned the flames with leather bellows. One gust of forced air, and the men below were burned to cinders. Outside the walls they built assault towers whose reach shattered everything they struck. Even the shield-walls could not hold them off. Xiaokuan had cloth sewn into awnings and spread them wherever the towers bore. Suspended in the air, the cloth baffled the towers and they could not break through. The besiegers next lashed pine to poles, soaked them in oil, and set them alight, hoping to burn away the cloth and the towers together. Xiaokuan answered with long iron hooks sharpened to an edge; as the fire-poles advanced, men at a distance hooked and cut them away, and pine and tow fell together. They dug twenty-one galleries in four directions around the walls, propped each with beams and posts, then soaked the posts in oil and burned them; the posts snapped and whole sections of wall came down. Wherever the wall gave way, Xiaokuan threw up wooden palisades; the enemy could not pass. The besiegers spent every art of assault; Xiaokuan turned each one aside.
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神武無如之何，乃遣倉曹參軍祖孝徵謂曰：「未聞救兵，何不降也？」 孝寬報云：「我城池嚴固，兵食有餘，攻者自勞，守者常逸。 豈有旬朔之間，已須救援。 適憂爾眾有不反之危。 孝寬關西男子，必不為降將軍也。」 俄而孝徵復謂城中人曰：「韋城主受彼榮祿，或復可爾，自外軍士，何事相隨入湯火中耶。」 乃射募格於城中云：「能斬城主降者，拜太尉，封開國郡公，邑萬戶，賞帛萬疋。」 孝寬手題書背，反射城外云：「若有斬高歡者，一依此賞。」 孝寬弟子遷，先在山東，又鎖至城下，臨以白刃，云若不早降，便行大戮。 孝寬慷慨激揚，略無顧意。 士卒莫不感勵，人有死難之心。
At his wits' end, Gao Huan sent registrar Zu Xiaozheng to say, "No relief has come — why not surrender?" Xiaokuan answered, "Our walls are strong, our stores ample; the attackers wear themselves out while the defenders rest. Relief within a fortnight or a month? Hardly. I worry rather for your host — that some among you may not live to turn home. I am a man of the western passes; I will not be a general who surrenders." Soon Xiaozheng called to the garrison: "Your commandant enjoys their pay and rank — perhaps he has his reasons; but you other soldiers — why follow him into fire?" He shot a bounty notice into the city: "Slay the commandant and come over, and you shall be made grand commandant, enfeoffed Duke of the State-Founding Commandery with ten thousand households, and given ten thousand bolts of silk." Xiaokuan wrote on the back in his own hand and shot the notice back out: "Behead Gao Huan, and the same reward stands." His nephew Qian, who had been in the east, was dragged in chains to the foot of the wall; blades were laid to his throat with the promise that unless the city surrendered at once, he would be slaughtered. Xiaokuan answered with fierce resolve and never so much as wavered. Officers and soldiers alike took fire from him; every man found the will to die where he stood.
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神武苦戰六旬，傷及病死者十四五，智力俱困，因而發疾。 其夜遁去。 後因此忿恚，遂殂。 魏文帝嘉孝寬功，令殿中尚書長孫紹遠、左丞王悅至玉壁勞問，授驃騎大將軍、開府儀同三司，進爵建忠郡公。
Gao Huan hammered at the city for sixty days; four or five men in ten fell wounded or dead; mind and body gave out together, and he fell ill. That night he stole away. The humiliation rankled; he died not long after. Emperor Wen of Wei honored Xiaokuan's service and sent palace secretary Changsun Shaoyuan and left assistant Wang Yue to Yubi with imperial praise; Xiaokuan was made General of Agile Cavalry and opener of the way with the three precedences, and raised to Duke of the Commandery of Established Loyalty.
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廢帝二年，為雍州刺史。 先是，路側一里置一土候，經雨頹毀，每須修之。 自孝寬臨州，乃勒部內當候處植槐樹代之。 既免修復，行旅又得庇蔭。 周文後見，怪問知之，曰：「豈得一州獨爾，當令天下同之。」 於是令諸州夾道一里種一樹，十里種三樹，百里種五樹焉。
In the second year of Emperor Fei he was appointed inspector of Yong Province. Until then the highways had been marked every li by earthen beacon-mounds; rain washed them down and they had to be rebuilt again and again. When Xiaokuan took office he ordered locust trees planted wherever the route called for a beacon within his province. Repairs ceased, and travelers gained shade into the bargain. Grand Progenitor Yuwen Tai later noticed the practice, asked how it had come about, and said, "One province should not have this alone — let the whole realm follow suit." He then ordered every province to plant one tree per li along the highways, three per ten li, and five per hundred li.
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保定初，以孝寬立勳玉壁，遂於玉壁置勳州，仍授勳州刺史。 齊人遣使至玉壁，求通互市。 晉公護以其相持日久，絕無使命，一日忽來求交易，疑別有故。 又以皇姑、皇世母先沒在彼，因其請和之際，或可致之。 遂令司門下大夫尹公正至玉壁，共孝寬詳議。 孝寬乃於郊盛設供帳，令公正接對使人，兼論皇家親屬在東之意。 使者辭色甚悅。 時又有汾州胡抄得關東人，孝寬復放東還，並致書一牘，具陳朝廷欲敦鄰好。 遂以禮送皇姑及護母等。
At the opening of Baoding, in recognition of Xiaokuan's stand at Yubi, Merit Province was created at Yubi and he was made its inspector. Qi sent envoys to Yubi to ask for border markets. Duke of Jin Yuwen Hu noted that after long stalemate without a single envoy, Qi had suddenly asked to trade and suspected some hidden design. The emperor's aunt and his consort's mother had died in Qi custody; during talks for peace their remains might be recovered. He therefore sent supervisor of the gate and lower grandee Yin Gongzheng to Yubi to work out the details with Xiaokuan. Xiaokuan pitched a grand pavilion in the suburbs and had Gongzheng receive the envoys, raising as well the question of royal kin held in the east. The envoys received the overture with evident satisfaction. When Hu raiders from Fen Province had taken captives from east of the Pass, Xiaokuan freed them to go home and sent a letter stating the court's desire for good relations with its neighbor. Qi then ceremonially returned the emperor's aunt, Yuwen Hu's mother, and the others.
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孝寬善於撫御，能得人心。 所遣間諜入齊者，皆為盡力。 亦有齊人得孝寬金貨，遙通書疏。 故齊動靜，朝廷皆先知。 時有主帥許盆，孝寬托以心膂，令守一戍。 盆乃以城東入。 孝寬怒，遣諜取之，俄而斬首而還。 其能致物情如此。
Xiaokuan had a gift for winning loyalty and holding it. Every agent he sent into Qi served him with full devotion. Some men in Qi also took gold and goods from Xiaokuan and kept up a distant correspondence with him. In this way the court always learned of Qi's movements before they happened. At the time there was a garrison commander, Xu Pen, whom Xiaokuan treated as a trusted right hand and posted to hold one fort. Pen then went over to the enemy through the east of the city. Xiaokuan was furious. He sent agents to seize him, and soon had his head cut off and brought back. Such was his power to command loyalty and turn events his way.
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汾州之北，離石以南，悉是生胡，抄掠居人，阻斷河路。 孝寬深患之。 而地入于齊，無方誅剪。 欲當其要處，置一大城。 乃於河西徵役徒十萬，甲士百人，遣開府姚岳監築之。 岳色懼，以兵少為難。 孝寬曰：「計成此城，十日即畢。 既去晉州四百餘里，一日創手，二日偽境始知； 設令晉州徵兵，二日方集； 謀議之間，自稽三日； 計其軍行，二日不到。 我之城隍，足得辦矣。」 乃令築之。 齊人果至南首，疑有大軍，乃停留不進。 其夜，又令汾水以南，傍介山、稷山諸村，所在縱火。 齊人謂是軍營，遂收兵自固。 版築克就，卒如其言。
North of Fen Province and south of Lishi lived wild Hu tribes who plundered the settled population and cut the river routes. Xiaokuan was deeply troubled by the situation. But the land had passed to Qi, and he had no way to root them out. He wanted to build a major fortress at the key point. He requisitioned a hundred thousand corvée laborers west of the river and a hundred armored troops, and sent Kaifu Yao Yue to oversee the work. Yue looked alarmed and said there were too few soldiers for the task. Xiaokuan said, "By my reckoning this fort can be finished in ten days. It is more than four hundred li from Jin Province. One day to break ground; on the second day the enemy will first hear of it. Even if Jin Province mobilizes, two days will pass before troops gather. Debate and planning will eat up three days on their own. Count two more days for the march, and they still will not arrive. By then our walls will be ready." With that he ordered the building to begin. Qi troops did reach the south end, but fearing a large army they halted and would not advance. That night he had fires lit in every village south of the Fen, around Jie Mountain, Ji Mountain, and the rest. The Qi forces took the fires for encampments and pulled back to consolidate their position. The fortifications were finished, exactly as he had predicted.
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四年，進位柱國。 時晉公護將東討，孝寬遣長史辛道憲啟陳不可，護不納。 既而大軍果不利。 後孔城遂陷，宜陽被圍。 孝寬乃謂其將帥曰：「宜陽一城之地，未能損益。 然兩國爭之，勞師數載。 彼多君子，寕乏謀猷。 若棄崤東，來圖汾北，我之疆界，必見侵擾。 今宜於華谷及長秋速築城，以杜賊志。 脫其先我，圖之實難。」 於是畫地形，具陳其狀。 晉公護令長史叱羅協謂使人曰：「韋公子孫雖多，數不滿百。 汾北築城，遣誰固守？」 事遂不行。 天和五年，進爵鄖國公，增邑通前一萬戶。 是歲，齊人果解宜陽之圍，經略汾北，遂築城守之。 其丞相斛律明月至汾東，請與孝寬相見。 明月云：「宜陽小城，久勞戰爭。 今既入彼，欲於汾北取償，幸勿怪也。」 孝寬答曰：「宜陽彼之要衝，汾北我之所棄。 我棄彼圖，取償安在？ 且君輔翼幼主，位重望隆，理宜調陰陽，撫百姓，焉用極武窮兵，構怨連禍！ 且滄、瀛大水，千里無煙，復欲使汾、晉之間，橫屍暴骨？ 苟貪尋常之地，塗炭疲弊之人，竊為君不取。」 孝寬參軍曲岩頗知卜筮，謂孝寬曰：「來年，東朝必大相殺戮。」 孝寬因令岩作謠歌曰：「百升飛上天，明月照長安。」 百升，斛也。 又言：「高山不摧自崩，槲樹不扶自豎。」 令諜人多齎此文，遺之於鄴。 祖孝徵既聞，更潤色之，明月竟以此誅。
In the fourth year he was promoted to pillar-of-state. When Duke of Jin Yuwen Hu was preparing an eastern campaign, Xiaokuan sent his chief administrator Xin Daoxian to argue against it, but Hu would not listen. Before long the main army did suffer defeat. Later Kongcheng fell and Yiyang came under siege. Xiaokuan then told his commanders, "Yiyang is only one city; holding or losing it will not greatly change our strength. Yet the two states have fought over it for years, wearing out their armies. Qi has no shortage of able men and stratagems. If they give up the east of Xiao and turn to the north bank of the Fen, our frontier will surely be harassed. We should quickly fortify Huagu and Changqiu to block their designs. If they move first, it will be very hard to stop them." He then mapped the ground and laid out the whole situation in a memorial. Duke of Jin Hu had his chief administrator Chiluo Xie tell the messenger, "The Wei clan may have many sons and grandsons, but they number fewer than a hundred. If you build forts north of the Fen, who will you leave to hold them?" The plan was dropped. In the fifth year of Tianhe he was made Duke of Yun, with his fief brought to ten thousand households in all. That year Qi did lift the siege of Yiyang, turned to the north bank of the Fen, and built forts to hold the ground. Qi's chief minister Hulü Mingyue came to the east bank of the Fen and asked to meet Xiaokuan. Mingyue said, "Yiyang is a small place, worn down by long fighting. Now that we hold it, we mean to take compensation on the north bank of the Fen. Please do not be offended." Xiaokuan replied, "Yiyang is your vital pass. The north bank of the Fen is land we have already given up. We yielded it and you press further—where is the compensation in that? You stand beside a young ruler, high in rank and renown. You ought to harmonize the realm and comfort the people. Why exhaust armies in endless war and pile up hatred and disaster? Floods have already laid waste to Cang and Ying for a thousand li without a hearth-fire. Must you also fill the land between Fen and Jin with corpses and exposed bones? To grasp at ordinary ground and grind down a people already spent—I do not think that suits a man of your standing." Xiaokuan's staff officer Qu Yan, who knew divination well, told him, "Next year the Eastern Court will surely see great bloodshed among its own." Xiaokuan then had Yan compose a rhyme: "A hundred sheng fly up to heaven; the bright moon shines on Chang'an." Hundred sheng" is a pun on hu, the measure word for grain—and on Hulü. He added, "High mountains fall without being struck down; oak trees rise without being braced up." He had agents carry many copies of the text and leave them in Ye. When Zu Xiaozheng heard of it he polished the wording further, and Mingyue was eventually executed because of the rhyme.
14
建德之後，武帝志在平齊。 孝寬乃上疏陳三策。 其第一策曰：
After the Jiande era Emperor Wu turned his mind to conquering Qi. Xiaokuan submitted a memorial presenting three strategies. The first strategy read:
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臣在邊積年，頗見間隙，不因際會，難以成功。 是以往歲出軍，徒有勞費，功績不立，由失機會。 何者？ 長淮之南，舊為沃土，陳氏以破亡餘燼，猶能一舉平之。 齊人歷年赴救，喪敗而反，內離外叛，計盡力窮。 傳不云乎：「讎有釁焉，不可失也。」 今大軍若出軹關，方軌而進，兼與陳氏共為掎角； 并令廣州義旅，出自三鵶； 又募山南驍銳，沿河而下； 復遣北山稽胡絕其並、晉之路。 凡此諸軍，仍令各募關、河之外勁勇之士，厚其爵賞，使為前驅。 岳動川移，雷駭電激，百道俱進，竝趨虜庭。 必當望旗奔潰，所向摧殄。 一戎大定，實在此機。
Your servant has spent years on the frontier and seen many openings. Without seizing the moment, success is hard. That is why past campaigns cost labor and treasure yet won nothing—the moment was missed. For what reason? South of the Long Huai was once rich country. Chen, already half ruined, still took it in a single campaign. Qi sent relief year after year and came back beaten. Within they split; without they rebelled. Their plans are spent and their strength gone. Does not the classic say, "When the foe shows a crack, do not let it pass"? Now if the main army marches out through Zhi Pass in broad columns and joins Chen in a pincer; if Guangzhou levies march from Sanya; if fierce troops south of the mountains descend along the river; and if Jie Hu from the northern hills cut the roads through Bing and Jin— then let every force recruit bold men from beyond the Pass and the River, reward them richly, and send them ahead as vanguard. Earth and water would seem to heave; thunder and lightning would terrify. A hundred columns would strike at once and drive straight for the enemy capital. They would break at the sight of our flags and be crushed wherever we turned. One stroke could settle the realm. The chance is now.
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其第二策曰：
The second strategy read:
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若國家更為後圖，未即大舉，宜與陳人分其兵勢。 三鵶以北，萬春以南，廣事屯田，預為貯積。 募其驍悍，立為部伍。 彼既東南有敵，戎馬相持，我出奇兵，破其疆埸。 彼若興師赴援，我則堅壁清野，待其去遠，還復出師。 常以邊外之軍，引其腹心之眾。 我無宿舂之費，彼有奔命之勞。 一二年中，必自離叛。 且齊氏昏暴，政出多門，鬻獄賣官，唯利是視，荒淫酒色，忌害忠良。 闔境熬然，不勝其弊。 以此而觀，覆亡可待。 然後乘間電掃，事等摧枯。
If the court prefers a longer plan and will not strike at once, join Chen in splitting Qi's forces. From north of Sanya to south of Wanchun, expand garrison farming and build up stores. Recruit their hard fighters and form them into units. With an enemy in the southeast tying down their armies, we should raid their borders with surprise forces. If they march to relieve one point, we should fortify, strip the country bare, wait until they are far off, then strike elsewhere. Always use frontier raids to pull their main armies away from the center. We pay no cost of overnight grinding; they pay the price of forced marches. In a year or two they will break apart on their own. Qi is dark and cruel. Power comes from many hands. Offices and verdicts are for sale; profit is all they see. They drown in wine and women and destroy the loyal. The whole realm groans under them and cannot endure their rule. Seen in this light, their fall is only a matter of time. Then seize the opening and sweep them aside like lightning, as easily as breaking dry wood.
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其第三策曰：
The third strategy read:
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竊以大周土宇，跨據關、河，蓄席捲之威，持建瓴之勢。 太祖受天明命，與物更新，是以二紀之中，大功克舉。 南清江、漢，西龕巴、蜀，塞表無虞，河右底定。 唯彼趙、魏，獨為榛梗者，正以有事三方，未遑東略。 遂使漳、滏遊魂，更存餘晷。 昔勾踐亡吳，尚期十載； 武王取亂，猶煩再舉。 今若更存遵養，且復相時，臣謂宜還崇鄰好，申其盟約。 安人和眾，通商惠工，蓄銳養威，觀釁而動。 斯則長策遠馭，坐自兼并也。
Great Zhou holds the Pass and the River, with the power to roll up the realm and the momentum of a tide pouring from a high roof. Grand Progenitor received Heaven's mandate and renewed the age, and within two reign-periods great deeds were done. The south was cleared to the Jiang and Han, the west brought in Ba and Shu, the frontier was secure, and the land west of the River was settled. Only Zhao and Wei remain as thorns in the side, because affairs on three fronts left no room to turn east. So the lingering power by the Zhang and Fu rivers still survives a little longer. Goujian destroyed Wu only after ten years; King Wu overthrew the Shang only after two campaigns. If the court would rather nurture strength and bide its time, your servant holds we should honor good relations with our neighbor and renew the treaty. Settle the people, keep trade open, benefit craftsmen, store up strength, and move only when a crack appears. That is the long strategy: govern from afar and absorb them without stirring.
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書奏，武帝遣小司寇淮南西元 （衛） 〔偉〕、開府伊婁謙等重幣聘齊。 爾後遂大舉，再駕而定山東，卒如孝寬之策。
When the memorial was in, Emperor Wu sent Junior Minister of Crime Yuan [Textual note: Wei] Wei, Kaifu Yilou Qian, and others with rich gifts to court Qi. Later the court did launch a great campaign. The emperor marched twice and pacified the east of the mountains, just as Xiaokuan had foreseen.
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孝寬每以年迫懸車，屢請致仕。 帝以海內未平，優詔弗許。 至是復稱疾乞骸骨。 帝曰：「往已面申本懷，何煩重請也。」 五年，帝東伐，過幸玉壁。 觀禦敵之所，深嘆羨之，移時乃去。 孝寬自以習練齊人虛實，請為先驅。 帝以玉壁要衝，非孝寬無以鎮之，乃不許。 及趙王招率兵出稽胡，與大軍掎角，乃敕孝寬為行軍總管，圍守華谷以應接之。 孝寬克其四城。 武帝平晉州，復令孝寬還舊鎮。
Xiaokuan, feeling his years advance, repeatedly asked to retire. The emperor, holding that the realm was not yet fully at peace, graciously refused each request. At this point he again pleaded illness and asked to be allowed to retire. The emperor said, "You already told me your mind face to face — why ask again?" In the fifth year Emperor Wu marched east and, passing through, visited Yubi. He inspected the enemy's old defenses, sighed in deep admiration, and lingered a long while before leaving. Xiaokuan, who knew the Qi armies well, asked to lead the van. The emperor held that Yubi was too vital to leave to anyone but Xiaokuan and refused. When Prince of Zhao Yuwen Zhao marched against the Ji Hu in pincer with the main force, Xiaokuan was ordered to act as campaign commander, besiege Huagu, and keep the link open. Xiaokuan took four of their cities. After Emperor Wu took Jin Province, Xiaokuan was sent back to his former post.
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及帝凱還，復幸玉壁。 從容謂孝寬曰：「世稱老人多智，善為軍謀。 然朕唯共少年，一舉平賊。 公以為何如？」 孝寬對曰：「臣今衰耄，唯有誠心而已。 然昔在少壯，亦曾輸力先朝，以定關右。」 帝大笑曰：「實如公言。」 乃詔孝寬隨駕還京。 拜大司空，出為延州總管，進位上柱國。
On his triumphant return the emperor visited Yubi again. At his ease he said to Xiaokuan, "People say old men are wise and full of stratagems. Yet I relied on the young alone and crushed the enemy in a single campaign. What do you make of that?" Xiaokuan answered, "I am old now and have little left but loyalty. Yet in my prime I too served the former court and helped secure the country west of the Pass." The emperor laughed and said, "That is exactly so." He then ordered Xiaokuan to return to the capital with the imperial train. He was made grand minister of works, posted as area commander of Yan Province, and raised to upper pillar-of-state.
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軍還，至豫州，宇文亮舉兵反，潛以數百騎襲孝寬營。 時亮圉官茹寬密白其狀，孝寬有備。 亮不得入，遁走，孝寬追獲之。 詔以平淮南之功，別封一子滑國公。
On the march home, at Yuzhou, Yuwen Liang rebelled and sent several hundred riders in a night raid on Xiaokuan's camp. Liang's household officer Ru Kuan got word to him in secret, and Xiaokuan was ready. Liang failed to break in, fled, and Xiaokuan ran him down and captured him. For pacifying Huainan an edict separately enfeoffed one of his sons as Duke of Hua.
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及宣帝崩，隋文帝輔政，時尉遲迥先為相州總管，詔孝寬代之。 又以小司徒叱列長文為相州刺史，先令赴鄴。 孝寬續進，至朝歌，迥遣大都督賀蘭貴齎書候孝寬。 孝寬留貴與語以察之，疑其有變，遂稱疾徐行。 又使人至相州求醫藥，密以伺之。 既到湯陰，逢長文奔還。 孝寬兄子魏郡守藝又棄郡南走。 孝寬審訐其狀，乃馳還。 所經橋道，皆令毀撤，驛馬悉擁以自隨。 又勒 （騎） 〔驛〕將曰：「蜀公將至，可多備餚酒及芻粟以待之。」 迥果遣儀同梁子康將數百騎追孝寬，驛司供設豐厚，所經之處，皆輒停留，由是不及。
When Emperor Xuan died and Yang Jian, later Emperor Wen of Sui, took power as regent, Yuchi Jiong was area commander of Xiang Province; Xiaokuan was ordered to replace him. Chilie Zhangwen was also made lesser minister of reckoning and inspector of Xiang Province and sent on ahead to Ye. Xiaokuan continued forward; at Chaoge, Yuchi Jiong sent Grand Commander Helan Gui with a letter of greeting. Xiaokuan detained Gui for conversation to probe him, suspected treachery, and feigned illness to slow his march. He also sent men to Xiang Province ostensibly to obtain medicines, but in secret to watch what was happening. At Tangyin he met Zhangwen fleeing back toward him. Xiaokuan's nephew Yi, administrator of Wei commandery, had likewise abandoned his post and fled south. Once Xiaokuan confirmed the plot, he galloped back at once. Every bridge and road on his route was torn up, and every relay horse was taken along for his own use. He also instructed [emended: Yì] the relay-station commanders, "The Duke of Shu is coming — lay in rich food, wine, and fodder for him." Yuchi Jiong did send Yitong Liang Zikang with several hundred riders after Xiaokuan, but the relay stations feasted them so generously that they halted everywhere and never caught up.
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時或勸孝寬，以為洛京虛弱，素無守備，河陽鎮防，悉是關東鮮卑，迥若先往據之，則為禍不小。 乃入保河陽。 河陽城內舊有鮮卑八百人，家並在鄴，見孝寬輕來，謀欲應迥。 孝寬知之，遂密造東京官司，詐稱遣行，分人詣洛陽受賜。 既至洛陽，並留不遣。 因此離解，其謀不成。
Some urged Xiaokuan that Luoyang was weak and undefended, that Heyang was held by eastern Guan Xianbei, and that if Yuchi Jiong seized it first the damage would be grave. He therefore withdrew into Heyang and held the city. Eight hundred Xianbei garrison troops in Heyang, with families in Ye, saw Xiaokuan arrive with a small force and plotted to join Yuchi Jiong. Xiaokuan learned of the plot and secretly notified the Eastern Capital authorities, pretending to send men on official business to Luoyang to receive gifts. When they reached Luoyang they were all detained. That broke up the conspiracy before it could succeed.
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六月，詔發關中兵，以孝寬為元帥東伐。 七月，軍次河陽。 迥所署儀同薛公禮等圍逼懷州，孝寬遣兵擊破之。 進次懷縣永〔橋〕城 （橋） 之東南。 其城既在要衝，雉堞牢固，迥已遣兵據之。 諸將士以此城當路，請先攻取。 孝寬曰：「城小而固，若攻而不拔，損我兵威。 今破其大軍，此亦何能為也。」 於是引軍次于武陟，大破迥子惇，惇輕騎奔鄴。 軍次於鄴西門豹祠之南。 迥自出戰，又破之。 迥窮迫自殺。 兵士在小城中者，盡坑於遊豫園。 諸有未服，皆隨機討之，關東悉平。 十月，凱還京師。 十一月薨，時年七十二。 贈太傅、十二州諸軍事、雍州牧。 諡曰襄。
In the sixth month an edict raised Guanzhong armies and made Xiaokuan supreme commander of the eastern expedition. In the seventh month the army halted at Heyang. Xue Gongli and other Yitong officers under Yuchi Jiong besieged Huaizhou; Xiaokuan sent troops and routed them. He moved up and encamped southeast of Yong [emended: Qiáo] Bridge city in Huai county. The town stood on a key route, its walls were strong, and Yuchi Jiong had already garrisoned it. His officers, seeing the town in the way, asked to reduce it first. Xiaokuan said, "The place is small but tough; if we attack and fail, we lose face. Break their main force and this town can do nothing." He then encamped at Wuzhi and routed Yuchi Jiong's son Dun, who fled to Ye with a small mounted band. The army halted south of the Leopard Shrine at Ye's west gate. Yuchi Jiong came out to fight in person and was beaten again. Cornered, Yuchi Jiong took his own life. The troops still holding the outlying towns were buried alive in Youyu Garden. Holdouts were mopped up as opportunity allowed, and the whole Guandong region was pacified. In the tenth month he marched home in triumph. He died in the eleventh month at the age of seventy-two. He was posthumously made grand tutor, commander of military affairs in twelve provinces, and governor of Yong. His posthumous name was Xiang.
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孝寬在邊多載，屢抗強敵。 所有經略，佈置之初，人莫之解； 見其成事，方乃驚服。 雖在軍中，篤意文史，政事之餘，每自披閱。 末年患眼，猶令學士讀而聽之。 又早喪父母，事兄嫂甚謹。 所得俸祿，不入私房。 親族有孤遺者，必加振贍。 朝野以此稱焉。 長子諶年已十歲，魏文帝欲以女妻之。 孝寬辭以兄子世康年長。 帝嘉之，遂以妻世康。 孝寬有六子，總、壽、霽、津知名。
Xiaokuan served long on the frontier and repeatedly faced formidable enemies. At first no one understood the plans he laid; only when they succeeded did men marvel and submit. Even in camp he kept to books and history, reading on his own whenever duty allowed. When his eyes failed in old age, he still had scholars read aloud to him. Orphaned young, he was scrupulously dutiful to his elder brother and sister-in-law. He never kept his official salary for private use. Any orphaned kin he always supported. Court and country alike praised him for it. When his eldest son Chen was ten, Emperor Wen of Wei wanted to marry a princess to him. Xiaokuan declined, citing his elder brother's son Shikang, who was older. The emperor approved and gave the princess to Shikang instead. Xiaokuan had six sons; Zong, Shou, Ji, and Jin were the best known.
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韋敻字敬遠。 志尚夷簡，澹於榮利。 弱冠，被召拜雍州中從事，非其好也，遂謝疾去職。 前後十見徵辟，皆不應命。 屬太祖經綸王業，側席求賢，聞敻養高不仕，虛心敬悅，遣使辟之，備加禮命。 雖情諭甚至，而竟不能屈。 彌以重之，亦弗之奪也。 所居之宅，枕帶林泉，敻對翫琴書，蕭然自樂。 時人號為居士焉。 至有慕其閑素者，或載酒從之，敻亦為之盡歡，接對忘倦。
Wei Xiong, courtesy name Jingyuan. He aspired to simplicity and cared nothing for rank or gain. At twenty he was summoned as assistant clerk of Yong Province, disliked the post, claimed illness, and resigned. Ten times he was called to office; ten times he refused. When Grand Progenitor Yuwen Tai was building the dynasty he sought talent with special urgency; learning that Xiong lived in honorable retirement, he admired him sincerely, sent envoys to recruit him, and offered the fullest honors. They reasoned with him at length, but he could not be moved. Yuwen Tai only respected him the more and would not force him from his chosen life. His house lay among woods and streams; there Xiong played the qin, read, and lived content in quiet seclusion. People of the day called him the Recluse. Admirers of his plain life sometimes brought wine and kept him company; Xiong welcomed them gladly and talked on without tiring.
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陳遣其尚書周弘正來聘，素聞敻名，請與相見。 朝廷許之。 弘正乃造敻，談謔盈日，恨相遇之晚。 後請敻至賓館，敻〔不〕時赴。 弘正仍贈詩曰：「德星猶未動，真車詎肯來。」 其為時所欽挹如此。
Chen sent Minister Zhou Hongzheng on a diplomatic visit; having long known Xiong's reputation, he asked to meet him. The court agreed. Hongzheng called on Xiong; they talked and bantered all day and lamented that they had met so late in life. Later he asked Xiong to the guesthouse; Xiong [did not] come promptly. Hongzheng sent him a poem: "The star of virtue has not yet stirred — would the true carriage condescend to come?" Such was the esteem in which his contemporaries held him.
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武帝嘗與敻夜宴，大賜之縑帛，令侍臣數人負以送出。 敻唯取一疋，示承恩旨而已。 帝以此益重之。 孝寬為延州總管，敻至州與孝寬相見。 將還，孝寬以所乘馬及轡勒與敻。 敻以其華飾，心弗欲之。 笑謂孝寬曰：「昔人不棄遺簪墜履者，惡與之同出，不與同歸。 吾雖不逮前烈，然捨舊錄新，亦非吾志也。」 於是乃乘舊馬以歸。
Emperor Wu once feasted with Xiong at night and gave him a great pile of silk and brocade, ordering several attendants to carry it out after him. Xiong took only one bolt, enough to acknowledge the gift and no more. The emperor respected him all the more for it. When Xiaokuan was area commander of Yan Province, Xiong visited the prefecture and met him. When Xiong was leaving, Xiaokuan gave him his own horse and harness. Xiong disliked the showy trappings and did not want the gift. Smiling, he told Xiaokuan, "The ancients would not leave behind a lost hairpin or a dropped shoe, for they hated to go out together and come back apart. I am no sage of old, but to discard what is mine and take what is new is not my way either." He rode his old horse home.
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武帝又以佛、道、儒三教不同，詔敻辨其優劣。 敻以三教雖殊，同歸於善，其迹似有深淺，其致理殆無等級。 乃著三教序奏之。 帝覽而稱善。 時宣帝在東宮，亦遺敻書，并令以帝所乘馬迎之，問以立身之道。 敻對曰：「傳不云乎，儉為德之恭，侈為惡之大。 欲不可縱，志不可滿。 竝聖人之訓也，願殿下察之。」
Emperor Wu also, finding Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism at odds, ordered Wei Xiong to judge which excelled. Wei Xiong held that though Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism differ, they all lead to goodness; their outward paths may seem deep or shallow, but in principle they stand on no ladder of rank. He then wrote a Preface to the Three Teachings and submitted it to the throne. The emperor read it and commended it. At that time the Crown Prince, later Emperor Xuan, was in the Eastern Palace; he too wrote to Wei Xiong, sent the emperor's own horse to fetch him, and asked how a man should stand in life. Wei Xiong replied, "Does not the Classic say, 'Frugality is the reverence of virtue; extravagance is the root of many evils. Desires must not be indulged, and the will must not be filled. These are the sage's teachings alike—I hope Your Highness will weigh them."
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敻子瓘行隨州刺史，因疾物故，孝寬子總復於并州戰歿。 一日之中，凶問俱至。 家人相對悲慟，而敻神色自若。 謂之曰：「死生命也，去來常事，亦何足悲。」 援琴撫之如舊。
Wei Xiong's son Guan, acting governor of Sui, died of illness, and Wei Xiaokuan's son Zong was killed in battle at Bing. Within a single day news of both deaths arrived. The household wept together, but Wei Xiong's face stayed unchanged. He told them, "Life and death are fate; coming and going are ordinary things—what is there to mourn?" He took up his zither and played as before.
33
敻又雅好名義，虛襟善誘。 雖耕夫牧豎有一介可稱者，皆接引之。 特與族人處玄及安定梁曠為放逸之友。 少愛文史，留情著述，手自抄錄數十萬言。 晚年虛靜，唯以體道會真為務。 舊所制述，咸削其藁，故文筆多竝不存。
Wei Xiong also loved honor and righteousness by nature, and with an open mind he guided others well. Even a plowman or cowherd with the smallest merit worth noting he would take in and encourage. He counted his clansman Chuxuan and Liang Kuang of Anding especially among his friends in an easy, unforced life. As a youth he loved literature and history, kept at writing, and copied out several hundred thousand words in his own hand. In later years he lived in quiet detachment and made embodying the Way and grasping truth his only pursuit. He destroyed the drafts of everything he had written, so most of his writings no longer survive.
34
建德中，敻以年老，預戒其子等曰：「昔士安以蘧蒢束體，王孫以布囊繞尸，二賢高達，非庸才能繼。 吾死之日，可斂舊衣，勿更新造。 使棺足周尸，牛車載柩，墳高四尺，壙深一丈。 其餘煩雜，悉無用也。 朝晡奠食，於事彌煩，吾不能頓絕汝輩之情，可朔望一奠而已。 仍薦素蔬，勿設牲牢。 親友欲以物弔祭者，並不得為受。 吾常恐臨終恍惚，故以此言預戒汝輩。 瞑目之日，勿違吾志也。」
In the Jiande era, grown old, Wei Xiong warned his sons in advance: "Long ago Lu Ji bound his body in coarse reed matting and Wang Sunchu wrapped the corpse in a cloth bag—those two sages were lofty men no ordinary person could imitate. When I die, dress me in old clothes; do not have new ones made. Let the coffin barely fit the body, let an ox cart carry the bier, let the mound rise four chi and the vault go one zhang deep. Everything else elaborate and troublesome is useless. Morning and evening food offerings would only burden you; I cannot ask you to cut off your feelings all at once—offer once at new moon and full moon only. Offer plain vegetables only; do not set out sacrificial livestock. If kin and friends wish to bring goods for mourning sacrifice, you must not accept them for me. I have often feared I might lose my wits at the end, so I warn you of this in advance. When I close my eyes, do not go against my wishes."
35
宣政元年二月，卒於家，時年七十七。 武帝遣使祭，賻賵有加。 其喪制葬禮，諸子等並遵其遺戒。 子世康。
In the second month of Xuanzheng year 1 he died at home, aged seventy-seven. Emperor Wu sent envoys to perform the sacrifice, and added generous funeral gifts and condolence offerings. His sons and the rest carried out the mourning and burial exactly as his last instructions commanded. His son Shikang succeeded him.
36
梁士彥字相如，安定烏氏人也。 少任俠，好讀兵書，頗涉經史。 周武帝將平東夏，聞其勇決，自扶風郡守除為九曲鎮將，進位上開府，封建威縣公。 齊人甚憚之。
Liang Shiyan, courtesy name Xiangru, came from Wushi in Anding commandery. As a youth he was bold and chivalrous, loved military texts, and had a fair grounding in the classics and histories. When Emperor Wu of Zhou was preparing to pacify Eastern Xia, he heard of Liang Shiyan's courage and made him commander of Jiuqu garrison in place of his post as administrator of Fufeng, raised him to upper opener-of-office, and enfeoffed him Duke of Jianwei. The men of Qi feared him deeply.
37
隋文帝作相，轉亳州總管。 尉遲迥反，為行軍總管，及韋孝寬擊之。 令家僮梁默等為前鋒，士彥繼之，所當皆破。
When Emperor Wen of Sui directed the government, Liang Shiyan was made overall commander of Bo Prefecture. When Yuchi Jiong rebelled, he was made campaigning commander-in-chief and marched with Wei Xiaokuan against him. He put household retainers Liang Mo and others in the vanguard and followed behind; every enemy line they met was broken.
38
及迥平，除相州刺史。 深見忌，乃代還京師。 閒居無事，恃功懷怨，與宇文忻、劉昉等謀反。 將率僮僕，候上享廟之際以發機。 復欲於蒲州起事，略取河北，捉黎陽關，塞河陽路，劫調布為牟甲，募盜賊為戰士。 其甥裴通知而奏之。 帝未發其事，授晉州刺史，欲觀其志。 士彥欣然謂昉等曰：「天也！」 又請儀同薛摩兒為長史，帝從之。 後與公卿朝謁，帝令執士彥、忻、昉等於行間。 詰之狀，猶不伏，捕薛摩兒至，對之。 摩兒具論始末，云第二子剛垂泣苦諫，第三子叔諧曰「作猛獸須成班」。 士彥失色，顧曰：「汝殺我！」 於是伏誅。 年七十二。
After Yuchi Jiong was crushed, he was made governor of Xiang Prefecture. Deeply mistrusted, he was recalled to the capital and replaced. Idle at home, he leaned on past merit and nursed a grudge, and with Yuwen Xin, Liu Fang, and others plotted rebellion. He planned to lead his servants and retainers and strike when the emperor went to the ancestral temple for sacrifice. He also meant to raise forces at Pu, overrun Hebei, seize Liyang Pass, block the Heyang route, requisition tax cloth for armor padding, and enlist bandits as soldiers. His nephew Pei Tong learned of the plot and reported it to the throne. The emperor kept the matter secret, made him governor of Jin Prefecture, and watched to see what he would do. Liang Shiyan said delightedly to Liu Fang and the others, "Heaven itself!" He also asked for Equal-in-protocol Xue Mo'er as chief clerk, and the emperor agreed. Later, at a court audience with the high ministers, the emperor had Liang Shiyan, Yuwen Xin, Liu Fang, and the others seized in the ranks. Questioned under charge, they still would not confess; Xue Mo'er was brought in and they were confronted with him. Xue Mo'er told the whole story, saying the second son Gang wept and pleaded against the plot, while the third son Shuxie said, "To make a fierce beast you need a full band." Liang Shiyan turned pale and cried out, "You have killed me!" He was then executed. He died at seventy-two.
39
有子五人。 操字孟德，位上開府、義鄉縣公，早卒。 剛字永固，位大將軍、通政縣公、涇州刺史。 以諫父獲免，徙瓜州。 叔諧坐士彥誅。
Five sons survived him. Cao, courtesy name Mengde, held upper opener-of-office and was Duke of Yixiang; he died young. Gang, courtesy name Yonggu, was grand general, Duke of Tongzheng, and governor of Jing Prefecture. Because he had admonished his father, he was spared and exiled to Gua Prefecture. Shuxie was executed along with Liang Shiyan.
40
梁默者，士彥之蒼頭也，驍武絕人。 士彥每從征伐，常與默陷陣。 仕周，位開府。 開皇末，以行軍總管從楊素征突厥，進位大將軍。 又從平楊諒，授柱國。 大業五年，從煬帝征吐谷渾，力戰死之。 贈光祿大夫。
Liang Mo was Liang Shiyan's household slave and a fighter without peer. Whenever Liang Shiyan went on campaign, he and Liang Mo broke enemy lines together. Under Northern Zhou he rose to opener-of-office. At the end of the Kaihuang era he served as campaigning commander-in-chief under Yang Su against the Türks and was raised to grand general. He again took part in crushing Yang Liang and was made pillar-of-state. In Daye year 5 he followed Emperor Yang against Tuyuhun, fought hard, and fell in battle. He was posthumously made Grand Master for Splendid Happiness.