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卷123 宋紀五

Volume 123 Song Records 5

Chapter 123 of 資治通鑑 · Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance
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Chapter 123
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123 使使 西西 殿 殿 使 西 西 西 西 使 駿 西 西 使西西 使西 使 使 西西 使 西 紿 使 西 西 西 西西西西 使 使使 使 使 西 涿西 使 使 退 西西 西 西 使 使西 使西使 使西使 西 使 使 滿 西 西 使 西 便 西 使 使 西 輿 西 使 西 西 西 使 西 西 使禿 西西 西 使 西使 使 西 鹿 西 禿 便 婿西西 駿駿 西 西 使 禿 西 簿 使 使 退 禿 禿 使 使 宿 殿 使 輿 使 簿 便 退 使 便 西 祿 簿 西 忿 使 西西 使 退 西
Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 123. [Song Records 5], from the bingzi year-name cycle through the dinghai year-name cycle—a span of six years. Yuanjia 13 of Emperor Wen's reign (bingzi; AD 436). In spring, the first month, on New Year's Day (guichou), the emperor was ill and held no court audience. On jiayin, the Northern Wei emperor returned to his capital. In the second month, on wuzi, the Yan king sent envoys to Wei with tribute and asked to send a hostage prince; the Wei emperor refused and prepared a punitive campaign. On renchen he sent a little over a dozen envoys to the eastern states, including Koguryŏ, to proclaim his intentions. Tan Daoji, Minister of Works, inspector of Jiang Province, and Duke of Yongxiu, had won distinction under the previous emperor. His fame was immense, his inner circle were all veterans of countless campaigns, and his sons were gifted as well—the court viewed him with suspicion and dread. The emperor's illness dragged on without recovery. Liu Zhan urged the chief minister Liu Yikang, arguing: "Once the emperor passes away, Tan Daoji will be beyond anyone's control." When the emperor's condition turned grave, Yikang persuaded him to summon Daoji to the capital. His wife, Lady Xiang, warned Daoji: "Supreme merit has always aroused jealousy. To be summoned for no apparent reason—disaster must be near." Once he arrived, they kept him at court for many months. When the emperor rallied somewhat, the court prepared to send him home; he had reached the river landing but had not yet set out; the emperor's illness worsened again. Yikang forged an edict summoning Daoji to a parting banquet and had him arrested. In the third month, on jiwei, an edict accused Tan Daoji of secretly distributing gold, recruiting outlaws, and exploiting the emperor's illness to hatch a treasonous plot." He was turned over to the judiciary; he and eleven others, including his son Zhi, attendant at the Yellow Gate, were put to death. Only his grandson Ru was spared. The court also executed Xue Tong and Gao Jinzhi, staff officers on Daoji's staff. Both were Daoji's closest confidants, famed for their valor; contemporaries likened them to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. As Daoji was seized, his eyes blazed with fury; he tore off his cap and hurled it down, crying: "So you are tearing down your own Great Wall!" When the Wei heard the news, they rejoiced: "With Daoji dead, the Wu generals are no longer worth fearing!" On gengshen, the court proclaimed a general amnesty; and appointed Prince Yixuan of Nanqiao, general of the central army, inspector of Jiang Province. On xinwei, the Wei generals E Qing and Gu Bi led ten thousand elite cavalry against Yan, while Ping Province inspector Tuoba Ying marched the Liaoxi forces to rendezvous with them. The Di chieftain Yang Nandang proclaimed himself Great King of Qin, adopted the era name Jianyi, enthroned his wife as queen and his heir as crown prince, and set up a full court mirroring the imperial model—yet he continued sending tribute to both Song and Wei. In summer, the fourth month, E Qing and Gu Bi stormed Yan's city of Bailang and captured it. Koguryŏ dispatched General Gelu Mengguang with tens of thousands of troops; following Yang Yi, they marched to Helong to escort the Yan king. The Koguryŏ army encamped at Linchuan. Yan's chief minister Guo Sheng, exploiting popular dread of forced migration, opened the gates to Wei forces; but the Wei troops suspected a trap and held back. Sheng then turned his troops against the Yan king, who brought Koguryŏ forces in through the east gate and fought him before the palace gates; Sheng fell to a stray arrow. Gelu Mengguang entered the city, had his men strip off their ragged clothes, armed them from Yan's arsenal, and looted the city thoroughly. In the fifth month, on yimao, the Yan king led Longcheng's populace eastward in exodus, torched the palaces, and the flames burned for ten days; women were armored and placed at the center of the column, Yang Yi and others led crack troops on the flanks, Gelu Mengguang commanded the cavalry rearguard, and the procession marched in tight formation for more than eighty li. Gu Bi's officer Gao Gouzi wanted to pursue with cavalry, but Bi, drunk, drew his sword and forbade it—allowing the Yan king to escape. The Wei emperor, enraged, had Bi and E Qing brought to Pingcheng in prisoner carts and reduced both to gatekeepers. On wuwu, the Wei emperor sent attendant Feng Bo to Koguryŏ with orders to deliver the Yan king. On dingmao, the Wei emperor traveled to Hexi. In the sixth month, the court ordered General Xiao Wangzhi to campaign against the rebel Cheng Daoyang. At Qikou, the rebel Bo Dinu offered to surrender. Daoyang was defeated and fled back into the Qishan hills. After Helian Ding withdrew westward, Yang Nandang seized Shanggui. In autumn, the seventh month, the Wei emperor sent Prince Pi of Leping and Liu Jie to command the Hexi and Gaoping armies against him, first dispatching Cui Lin with an imperial edict summoning Nandang to submit. You Ya of Wei arrived as envoy on a diplomatic mission to Song. On jiwei, Lady Chu, mother of the Prince of Lingling, died; she was posthumously honored as Empress Gongsi of Jin and interred with Jin ceremonial rites. In the eighth month, the Wei emperor hunted in Hexi. The Wei emperor sent Duke Zhang Li of Guangping to raise twelve thousand Ding Province troops to clear the Shaqüan road. In the ninth month, on gengxu, Prince Pi of Leping and the Wei host reached Lueyang; Yang Nandang, alarmed, submitted to the edict, withdrew the Shanggui garrison, and returned to Chouchi. The generals debated, arguing: "Unless we execute their chieftains, they will rally in rebellion once we withdraw. Besides, an army this far from home must seize booty to fill its stores and reward the troops." Pi was ready to agree, but Gao Yun, on his staff, objected: "To follow the generals' plan would destroy the goodwill of those who have submitted; once our army withdraws, rebellion will follow at once." Pi relented, reassured the newly submitted peoples, and forbade the slightest pillage; Qin and Long were soon at peace. Nandang installed his son Shun as inspector of Yong Province to hold Xiabian. “Koguryŏ refused to hand the Yan king to Wei and sent envoys pledging that they and Feng Hong would both accept Wei's overlordship.” Angered by Koguryŏ's defiance, the Wei emperor debated an attack and prepared to mobilize the Longyou cavalry. Liu Jie urged: "The newly pacified peoples of Qin and Long need time to recover; only when they are prosperous should we draw on them." Prince Pi of Leping added: "Helong was only recently secured; we should expand farming to fill our stores, then advance—Koguryŏ could be crushed in one campaign." The Wei emperor abandoned the plan. On guichou, the princes Jun and Jun were enfeoffed as Prince of Shixing and Prince of Wuling. In winter, the eleventh month, on jiyou, the Wei emperor traveled to Boyang, rounded up wild horses in Yunzhong, and established a royal stud. In the intercalary month, on renzi, he returned to the capital. Earlier, after Emperor Gaozu captured Chang'an, he acquired an ancient bronze armillary sphere; though intact in form, it could not track the seven luminaries. That year the court ordered Grand Astrologer Qian Yuezhi to cast a new armillary sphere six chi eight fen across, water-driven so that the stars at dusk, dawn, and culmination matched the heavens. The Rouran severed ties with Wei and raided the frontier. Mugui, the Tuyuhun king known as Hui, died; his brother Muli Yan succeeded him. Yuanjia 14 of Emperor Wen's reign (dingchou; AD 437). In spring, the first month, on wuzi, Changsun Song, Prince Xuan of Beiping under Wei, died. On xinmao, the court proclaimed a general amnesty. In the second month, on yimao, the Wei emperor traveled to You Province. In the third month, on dingchou, the Wei emperor appointed Prince Hun of Nanping grand general guarding the east with third-rank honors to hold Helong. On jimao, he returned to the capital. The emperor sent Liu Xibo to Wei to negotiate betrothal gifts, but the mission was called off when the emperor's daughter died. In summer, the fourth month, Zhao Guang, Zhang Xun, Liang Xian, and others surrendered with their bands. Sub-commander Wang Dao'en killed Cheng Daoyang and sent his head; the remaining rebels were wiped out. On dingwei, Zhou Jizhi, general who supports the state, was made inspector of Yi Province. Finding many local officials corrupt, the Wei emperor, in the fifth month of summer, on jichou, allowed officials and commoners to denounce lawless prefects and magistrates. Crafty men then hunted for officials' misdeeds, intimidated officeholders, and terrorized the neighborhoods; while senior officials humbled themselves before them and remained as greedy and lawless as ever. On bingshen, the Wei emperor traveled to Yunzhong. In autumn, the seventh month, on wuzi, Prince Jian of Yongchang and others crushed the remnants of the Mountain Hu rebel Bai Long in Xihe. In the eighth month, on jiachen, the Wei emperor went to Hexi. In the ninth month, on jiashen, he returned to the capital. On dingyou, the Wei emperor invested Tuyuhun king Muli Yan as grand general guarding the west with third-rank honors and enfeoffed him as Prince of Xiping. In winter, the tenth month, on guimao, the Wei emperor traveled to Yunzhong. In the eleventh month, on renshen, he returned to the capital. The Wei emperor again dispatched Dong Wan, Gao Ming, and others with more gold and silk to the Western Regions to win over the nine states. At Wusun, its king welcomed them warmly, saying: "Poluona and Zheshi both wish to submit to Wei but lack a route; your lordship should visit and reassure them." He provided guides to escort Wan to Poluona and Ming to Zheshi. Hearing of this, sixteen states sent envoys with Wan's party to offer tribute. Henceforth they sent tribute every year without fail. The Wei emperor married his sister, Princess Wuwei, to Hexi king Mujian, who sent Song Yao to Pingcheng with thanks and to ask what titles his mother and the princess should use. The Wei emperor consulted his ministers, who ruled: "A mother is honored through her son; a wife takes her husband's rank. Mujian's mother should be Empress Dowager of Hexi; in Hexi the princess should be called queen, and in the capital, princess." The Wei emperor agreed. Mujian had earlier married a daughter of the Liang king; when the Wei princess arrived, Lady Li and her mother Lady Yin were moved to Jiuquan. Soon Lady Li died; Lady Yin caressed the body without tears, saying: "Your kingdom fell and your house was ruined—you died too late." Mujian's brother Wuhui, holding Jiuquan, asked Lady Yin: "Your grandsons are at Yiwu—do you wish to join them someday?" Unsure of his intent, she feigned agreement: "My kin wander in exile; I have few years left and will die here rather than end as a nomad ghost." Before long she secretly fled to Yiwu. Wuhui sent cavalry after her; Lady Yin told them: "The Juqu of Jiuquan promised I could go north—why chase me again! Take my head and go—I will not turn back." The horsemen dared not force her and withdrew. Lady Yin died at Yiwu. Mujian sent General Juqu Pangzhou to Wei with tribute; the Wei emperor sent Gu Bi and Li Shun with robes for his courtiers and summoned the heir Fengtan to attend court. That year Mujian sent Fengtan to Wei and envoys to Jiankang with books and Zhao Feiwen's Jiazi calendar from Dunhuang, requesting dozens of other works; the Song emperor granted them all. When Li Shun returned from Hexi, the Wei emperor asked: "Years ago you urged taking Liangzhou; eastern affairs kept me from acting. Now Helong is pacified—may I campaign west this year?" He replied: "What I said then still holds, in my view. But the army has campaigned repeatedly; men and horses are exhausted—please defer the western campaign to another year." The Wei emperor abandoned the plan. Yuanjia 15 of Emperor Wen's reign (wuyin; AD 438). In spring, the second month, on dingwei, Tuyuhun king Muli Yan was appointed commander of Western Qin, He, and Sha, grand general guarding the west, inspector of Western Qin and He, and Prince of Longxi. In the third month, on guiwei, the Wei emperor ordered monks under fifty to leave the clergy. When Yan king Hong reached Liaodong, Koguryŏ king Jian sent envoys asking: "King Feng of Longcheng, resting in the wild on your journey—are your men and horses weary?" Hong, shamed and furious, styled himself emperor and rebuked Jian. Koguryŏ housed him at Pingguo, then moved him to Beifeng. Hong had always despised Koguryŏ and continued to govern, punish, and reward as if still in Yan. Koguryŏ seized his attendants and took his heir Wang Ren hostage. Hong, resenting Koguryŏ, petitioned Song for escort; the emperor sent Wang Baiju and others to fetch him and ordered Koguryŏ to provide supplies. Unwilling to let Hong go south, the Koguryŏ king sent Sun Shu and Gao Chou to kill him at Beifeng with more than ten kin and posthumously styled him Emperor Zhaocheng. Baiju led his seven thousand men in a surprise raid, killed Chou, and captured Shu alive. The Koguryŏ king protested their unauthorized killings and sent envoys to seize and deliver them to Song. Not wishing to offend a distant ally, the emperor imprisoned Baiju and his men; then later pardoned them. In summer, the fourth month, the daughter of the late Yin Chun was wed to Crown Prince Shao. In the fifth month, on wuyin, Wei proclaimed a general amnesty. On bingshen, the Wei emperor went to Wuyuan. In autumn, the seventh month, he marched north from Wuyuan against the Rouran. Prince Pi of Leping led fifteen generals on the eastern route, Prince Jian of Yongchang fifteen on the western route, and the emperor took the center. At Mount Junji he split the center: Prince Chong of Chenliu marched from the Great Marsh toward Zhuoye Mountain while the emperor went north toward Tianshan, climbed Bai Fu, found no Rouran, and turned back. The northern steppe was gripped by drought; lacking water and fodder, many men and horses perished. In winter, the eleventh month, on New Year's Day (dingmao), a solar eclipse occurred. In the twelfth month, on dingsi, the Wei emperor returned to Pingcheng. Lei Cizong of Yuzhang, a devoted scholar, lived in seclusion on Mount Lu. Once summoned as scattered-cavalry attendant, he declined. That year he was summoned to Jiankang as a recluse; a school was opened for him on Mount Jilong to gather and instruct students. The emperor, devoted to culture, had He Shangzhi head metaphysics, He Chengtian history, Xie Yuan literature, and Lei Cizong Confucian studies—the Four Academies. Xie Yuan was a cousin of the poet Xie Lingyun. The emperor often visited Cizong's school, had him signal lectures with a kerchief, and lavished gifts on him. He was again offered the post of supervising secretary and again declined. Eventually he returned to Mount Lu. Sima Guang comments: The Book of Changes says, "The noble person learns widely from the words and deeds of the past to cultivate virtue." Confucius said, "Language need only convey the meaning—that is all." Thus history is one branch of Confucian learning and literature a secondary pursuit; while the emptiness of Laozi and Zhuangzi is no proper foundation for teaching. Scholarship exists to seek the Way; there is only one Way under Heaven—how can there be four separate schools! The emperor was benevolent, respectful, and frugal, diligent in government—strict in law yet not harsh, tolerant yet not lax. Officials served long in their posts; local leaders served fixed six-year terms; clerks were not dismissed capriciously; the people had stable governance to rely on. For thirty years the realm within the four borders enjoyed peace and prosperity, and the population grew; Corvée and rents were limited to the annual tax; people left at dawn and returned at dusk to mind their own work, and that was enough. In every neighborhood one could hear lectures and recitation; gentlemen cultivated integrity; villages shamed frivolous conduct. South-of-the-Yangzi manners were at their best in this age. Later commentators on governance all held up the Yuanjia era as a model. Emperor Wen of Liu Song, middle reign, upper section—Yuanjia year 16 (jimao; AD 439). In spring, the first month, on gengyin, Yikang was promoted from Minister of Works to Grand General while keeping that office; Yigong, King of Jiangxia and inspector of Southern Guan, was made Minister of Works. The Northern Wei emperor traveled to Ding Province. Earlier, Emperor Wu had decreed that his sons should rotate residence in Jing Province. Prince Yiqing of Linchuan had governed Jingzhou for eight years, and the court sought a successor; by rotation it should have been Prince Yixuan of Nanqiao. The emperor judged Yixuan's talent mean and vulgar and passed him over; In the second month, on jihai, Prince Yiji of Hengyang was appointed commander of military affairs in eight provinces including Jing and Xiang, and inspector of Jing Province. One spring Yiji went hunting. An old man in a straw cape was plowing; his attendants drove him away. The old man said, "Indulgence in roaming and hunting is what the ancients warned against. Now the warm breath of spring is abroad—miss one day's plowing and the people lose their season. How can you chase birds for pleasure and drive off an old farmer!" Yiji reined in and said, "A worthy man!" He ordered food brought, but the man declined: "If Your Highness does not steal the farming season, everyone in your realm will be fed by you—how dare this old man alone accept your gift!" Yiji asked his name, but he would not say and left. In the third month, Gena, Northern Wei inspector of Yong, attacked Shangluo; Tan Changsheng, the prefect, abandoned the commandery and fled. On xinwei, the Northern Wei emperor returned to his capital. Yang Baozong and his elder brother Baoxian fled from Tongting to Northern Wei. On gengyin, the Wei emperor made Baozong commander of Longxi, Grand General Who Conquers the West, with ceremonial parity to the Three Dukes, governor of Qin, and King of Wudu, posted at Shanggui, and married him to a princess; Baoxian was made General Who Pacifies the West and Duke of Jinshou. Hexi king Mujian had an affair with his sister-in-law Lady Li, and the three brothers took turns keeping her as a favorite. Lady Li and Mujian's sister jointly poisoned the Wei princess; the Wei emperor sent an antidote physician by relay post, and she recovered. The Wei emperor demanded Lady Li, but Mujian refused to send her, gave her generous support, and settled her at Jiuquan. Whenever Wei sent envoys westward, it routinely ordered Mujian to provide guides and escorts to see them past the drifting sands. As an envoy returned from the west and reached Wuwei, someone near Mujian told the Wei envoy, "Our lord heard the Rouran khan's boast that 'last year the Wei emperor came in person to attack us; his men and horses died of plague and he fled in defeat; we captured his younger brother, Prince Pi of Leping.' Our lord was delighted and proclaimed it throughout the realm. We also heard that the khan told the western states, 'Wei is weakened; now only I am strong under Heaven—if another Wei envoy comes, do not receive him again.' Many western states began to waver in loyalty." On his return, the envoy reported all of this in detail. The Wei emperor sent Minister He Duoluo to Liangzhou to reconnoiter; on his return Duoluo too said Mujian observed the forms of vassalage outwardly but was disloyal within. The Wei emperor wished to attack him and consulted Cui Hao. Hao replied, "Mujian's disloyalty is already plain; he must be punished. Last year's northern campaign, though it did not capture the enemy, did the state no real harm. Of three hundred thousand war-horses, fewer than eight thousand died or were wounded on the march—an ordinary year loses no fewer than ten thousand to weakness alone. Yet distant lands seized the moment and declared that Wei was spent and could not recover. Strike now without warning; when the army suddenly arrives they will panic and not know what to do, and he will surely be taken." The emperor said, "Excellent! I think so as well." He then convened the high ministers for deliberation in the Western Hall. Prince Xi Jin of Hongnong and more than thirty others said, "Mujian is a minor western state; though not wholly loyal, since he succeeded his father he has not failed in tribute. The court has treated him as a vassal and married him to a princess; his crimes are not yet proven; he should be forgiven. The state has just fought the Rouran; men and horses are exhausted—a major campaign is not yet possible. Moreover, their land is said to be saline and poor in water and grass; when the army arrives they will surely hold their walls. If the siege fails and there is nothing to forage in the countryside, that is a dangerous path." Earlier, Cui Hao disliked Minister Li Shun, who had been envoy to Liangzhou twelve times and whom the emperor regarded as capable. The Liang king often feasted with Shun and before his officials spoke arrogantly; fearing Shun would report this, he stuffed gold and jewels into Shun's robe, and Shun concealed it. Hao learned of this and secretly informed the emperor, who did not yet believe him. When the attack on Liangzhou was debated, Shun and Minister Gu Bi both said, "From the Wenyu River west to Guzang the land is barren rock, utterly without water or grass. They say that south of Guzang on Mount Tianti snow piles more than ten feet deep in winter; in spring and summer it melts into streams that the people use for irrigation. When they hear the army is coming they will breach those channels and cut off the water. Within a hundred li of the walls nothing grows; men and horses will starve and thirst and cannot stay long. Xi Jin and the others are right." The emperor then ordered Hao and Xi Jin's party to debate the matter. The assembly had nothing more to say except, "There is no water or grass there." Hao said, "The Book of Han's Treatise on Geography says, 'The livestock of Liangzhou are the richest under Heaven'—without water and grass, how could herds multiply? Moreover, the Han would never build cities and counties where there was no water or grass. And melting snow can barely wet the dust—how could it feed irrigation channels! That is outright deception." Li Shun said, "Hearing is not like seeing—I have seen it myself; what is there to argue?" Hao said, "You took their gold and want to plead for them—do you think I am blind and can be fooled!" The emperor had been listening in secret; when he heard this he came out to face Xi Jin's party with a stern countenance, and the ministers dared say no more and only murmured assent. After the ministers left, Zhenwei General Yi Bo, a man of the Dai, said to the emperor, "If Liangzhou truly lacked water and grass, how could they have a state? The assembly's advice should be rejected; Your Majesty should follow Hao." The emperor approved. In summer, the fifth month, on dingchou, the Wei emperor reviewed troops at the western suburb; in the sixth month, on jiachen, he marched from Pingcheng. He left Palace Attendant Prince Mu Shou of Yidu to assist Crown Prince Huang in governing, with authority over all affairs left at the capital. He also posted Grand General Prince Ji Jing of Changle and Assistant State General Prince Chong of Jianning with twenty thousand men south of the desert to guard against the Rouran. He ordered the high ministers to draft a reproach to Hexi king Mujian, listing twelve crimes, and saying, "If you personally lead your ministers to surrender and welcome us from afar, bowing at our horses' heads—that is the best course. When the six armies arrive, to come bound with a coffin on your back is the next best. If you stubbornly hold a doomed city and do not repent in time, you and your clan will perish and become a warning to the world. Consider your heart and seek your own fortune!" On jiyou, Moliyan, king of Longxi Tuyuhun, was re-enfeoffed as King of Henan. The Wei emperor crossed the river from Yunzhong; in autumn, the seventh month, on jisi, he reached Shangjun Dependency State City. On renwu he left the baggage train, divided the forces, and sent Pacification Army Grand General Prince Wang Jian of Yongchang, Director Liu Jie, and Prince Su of Changshan as vanguard in two columns; Swift-cavalry Grand General Prince Pi of Leping and Grand Mentor Prince Du Chao of Yangping as rear guard; with General Who Pacifies the West Yuan He as guide. The emperor asked He for a plan to take Liangzhou. He replied, "Near Guzang are four Xianbei divisions, all my grandfather's former subjects; I wish to go before the army, proclaim the state's authority, and show them fortune and ruin—they will surely submit together. Once their outside allies submit, taking the isolated city will be like turning one's palm." The emperor said, "Excellent!" In the eighth month, on jiawu, Wang Jian of Yongchang seized more than two hundred thousand head of livestock in the Hexi region. King Mujian of Hexi heard that Wei forces were approaching and cried in alarm, "Why has it come to this!" He followed the counsel of Left Assistant Minister Yao Dingguo, refused to go out to surrender, and appealed to the Rouran for aid. He sent his brother Dong Lai, General Who Conquers the South, with more than ten thousand men to fight south of the city, but they broke and fled at the first encounter. Liu Jie heeded a diviner who pronounced the day inauspicious, held his troops back, and did not pursue; Dong Lai thus made it back into the city. The Wei emperor was furious with him for it. On bingshen, the emperor reached Guzang and sent envoys ordering Mujian to surrender. Hearing that the Rouran meant to raid the Wei frontier, Mujian hoped the emperor would return east and shut himself in Guzang to hold out. His nephew Zu climbed over the wall to surrender; when the emperor learned the full situation, he divided his forces to besiege the city. Yuan He led troops to win over more than thirty thousand dependent clans, so the emperor could focus on Guzang without other distractions. Seeing rich grass and water outside Guzang, the emperor bore a grudge against Li Shun and told Cui Hao, "Your earlier prediction has indeed come true." Hao replied, "I never speak falsely; it is mostly like this." When the emperor was planning the Liangzhou campaign, Crown Prince Huang had doubts as well. At this point the emperor wrote to the crown prince: "East and west of Guzang's gates, springs surge together north of the city, as broad as a river. Smaller channels run off into the desert; there is scarcely dry ground between them. I send this to lay your doubts to rest." On gengzi, Prince Shuo was enfeoffed as Prince of Nanping. In the ninth month, on bingxu, Mujian's nephew Wan Nian led his followers in surrender to Wei. Guzang fell; Mujian led five thousand officials and officers forward bound to beg surrender; the emperor released their bonds and received them courteously. They took more than two hundred thousand people within the walls and storehouses of treasure beyond reckoning. He sent Prince Baozhou of Zhangye, Mu Ba (General of Dragon Cavalry), and Yuan He to secure the commanderies; several hundred thousand more mixed peoples submitted. Earlier Mujian had posted his brother Wuhui as governor of Shazhou, commander west of Jiankang, and Jiuquan administrator; Yide as Qinzhou governor and Zhangye administrator; Anzhou at Ledu; and his cousin Tang'er at Dunhuang. When Guzang fell, the emperor sent Xi Juan south against Zhangye and Feng Ta north against Ledu. Yide burned the granaries and fled west to Jiuquan; Anzhou fled south to the Tuyuhun; Feng Ta raided several thousand households and withdrew. Xi Juan pressed Jiuquan; Wuhui and Yide rallied survivors at Jinchang, then joined Tang'er at Dunhuang. The emperor posted Yuan Jie at Jiuquan and stationed officers at Wuwei and Zhangye. At a feast in Guzang the emperor told his ministers, "Cui's strategems no longer surprise me— Yi Bo is a fighting man, yet his judgment matched Cui Hao's—that is truly remarkable!" Yi Bo was a fine archer who could walk backward dragging an ox and keep pace with a galloping horse; loyal and careful by nature, the emperor especially favored him. On the western campaign, Mu Shou escorted the emperor to the river, who instructed him: "Wuti and Mujian are old allies; when he hears I am attacking Mujian, Wuti will raid the border. I leave you strong troops and good horses to support the crown prince. When the harvest is in, move troops to the southern desert and set ambushes at key points for the enemy's arrival. Lure them deep, then strike, and you cannot fail. Liangzhou is far and I cannot save you—do not disobey me!" Shou kowtowed and accepted the charge. Shou deeply trusted Academician Gongsun Zhi of the Secretariat and made him his chief counselor. Both trusted divination, convinced the Rouran would not come, and made no preparations. Zhi was a younger brother of Gui. When Khan Chelian of the Rouran heard the emperor was bound for Guzang, he invaded while the realm was exposed, leaving his brother Qiliegui with Ji Jing and Prince Chong of Jianning to hold North Garrison while he led elite cavalry deep to Mount Qijie near Shanyu; Pingcheng was thrown into panic as people rushed into the inner city. Mu Shou was at a loss, proposed sealing the western gate and sending the crown prince to Mount Baonan for safety; Empress Dowager Dou refused and stopped him. He sent Changsun Daosheng and Zhang Li to meet them at Mount Tufei. Ji Jing and Prince Chong of Jianning defeated Qiliegui north of Yinshan, capturing him along with his uncle Tawu Luhu and five hundred officers, and took more than ten thousand heads. Chelian heard the news and fled; the pursuers followed to the southern desert and withdrew. In winter, the tenth month, on xinyou, the emperor returned east, leaving Prince Pi of Leping and He Duoluo to guard Liangzhou and relocating Mujian's clan and thirty thousand households of officials and people to Pingcheng. On guihai, Tufa Baozhou led Xianbei factions to seize Zhangye and rebel against Wei. In the twelfth month, on yihai, Crown Prince Shao came of age and a general amnesty was proclaimed. Shao was handsome, loved learning and horsemanship, and delighted in entertaining guests; whatever he wished, the emperor granted; the Eastern Palace was armed on a par with the imperial guard. On renchen, the emperor reached Pingcheng; because the Rouran raid had caused little loss, Mu Shou and his circle were spared execution. The emperor still treated Mujian as a son-in-law, with his titles as King of Hexi and General Who Conquers the West unchanged. When Mujian's mother died, she was buried with grand consort honors; and thirty households were assigned to guard the tomb of the Prince of Wuxuan. Liangzhou had been known for its scholars since the days of the Zhang regime. Mujian especially loved learning; he appointed Kan Yin of Dunhuang as Guzang administrator, Zhang Zhan as minister of war, Liu Bing, Suo Chang, and Yin Xing as tutors to the national teacher, Song Qin of Jincheng as crown prince's groom, Zhao Rou as an officer of the treasury, and Cheng Jun of Guangping with his cousin Hong as lecturers to the heir. After taking Liangzhou, the emperor honored and employed them all, making Kan Yin and Liu Bing attendants on Prince Pi of Leping. Hu Sou of Anding, a gifted youth who had served Mujian without winning much favor, told Cheng Hong: "Your lord rules a remote realm yet indulges in inflated titles and usurped ceremony; he affects grandeur with an impure heart and preaches benevolence without practicing it—his fall can be awaited with toes raised. I will choose my perch and cast my lot with Wei first; a brief parting from you, my lord, not a long farewell." He then went over to Wei. Within a year Mujian had fallen. The emperor, crediting his foresight, made him General of Tiger Might and enfeoffed him as Baron of Shifu. Chang Shuang of Henei, long resident in Liangzhou though he had refused office, was made General Who Proclaims Might. Song Yao, former right chancellor of Hexi, followed the emperor to Pingcheng and died there. The emperor appointed Suo Chang a doctoral scholar of the Secretariat. The court still prized martial glory, and young nobles took up scholarly study as a fashion. Chang taught as a doctor for more than ten years, guiding pupils with stern courtesy that awed the nobility; dozens of his students later rose to posts as ministers and regional governors. Chang Shuang founded a school on the Wen River's right bank with more than seven hundred pupils; He set rules of reward and punishment, and his students treated him as a strict master. Thus Confucian learning in Wei began to revive. Gao Yun often praised Shuang's discipline: "Wen Weng prevailed through gentleness; Master Chang through severity—different methods, but the same end in forming men." Jiang Qiang of Chenliu, living in Liangzhou, presented more than a thousand scrolls of classics, histories, and masters' works plus model calligraphy, and was also made a Secretariat doctor. The emperor put Cui Hao in charge of the imperial library and the historiographical office; with Gao Yun and Zhang Wei assisting the historiographical project. Hao memorialized: "Yin Zhongda and Duan Chenggen are outstanding talents of Liangzhou; I ask that they help compile the dynastic history." Both were appointed historiographers. Zhongda was from Wuwei; Chenggen was the son of Duan Hui. Hao gathered calendrical experts, checked eclipses and planetary motions since Emperor Yuan of Han, corrected earlier chronicles' errors, and drafted a new Wei calendar for Gao Yun's review. Yun said, "The five planets' gathering in the Well in the tenth month of Han's founding year is elementary calendrical lore; yet you fault the Han histories without noticing this mistake—later ages may fault us as we fault them." Hao asked, "What mistake do you mean?" Yun replied, "In the Star Canon it says, 'Venus and Mercury always keep to the sun's course. In the tenth month the sun stood in Wei and Ji, vanished at dusk south of Shen, while the Well was only rising north of Yin—how could those two stars run counter to the sun? The clerks wanted to make the omen supernatural and never worked it out by reason." Hao said, "When the sky means to show a sign, what is impossible?" Yun said, "Words alone won't settle this; it needs another careful look." The company thought Yun odd; only Junior Tutor You Ya of the Eastern Palace said, "Master Gao is a master of the calendar—he is not talking nonsense." A year and more later Hao told Yun, "Our earlier talk—I never really minded it; but when I looked into it again, it was exactly as you said. The five planets had actually met in the Well three months before—not in the tenth month." The assembly marveled. Yun understood the calendar, yet he had never done calculations or lectured for others—only You Ya knew it. You Ya often asked Yun about omens; Yun said, "Yin-yang portents are very hard to know; once you know them, you fear letting the secret out—better not to know. Heaven and earth hold endless subtleties—why press this one point!" You Ya left off. The Wei emperor asked Yun, "What should come first in government?" Wei had sealed off much good land; Yun said, "I was lowborn in youth and know only agriculture. If the state opens fields and hoards grain so court and people alike are stocked, hunger need not trouble us." The emperor ordered every field restriction removed and land assigned to the people. Murong Lilian, king of Tuyuhun, heard that Wei had taken Liangzhou; in great fear he led his host west across the desert. The Wei emperor, noting that Lilian's brother Murong Gui had captured Helian Ding, sent envoys to reassure him, and Lilian returned to his old territory. The Di king Yang Nan'dang marched tens of thousands against Wei's Shanggui, and much of Qinzhou rallied to him. Lü Luohan of Dongping urged the garrison commander Tuoba Yitou, "Nan'dang's force is huge; if we refuse battle now and look weak, morale will collapse and we cannot hold the city." Yitou sent Luohan with a thousand picked horsemen to smash Nan'dang's line; they swept all before them and killed eight of his bodyguards—Nan'dang was shaken. Meanwhile the Wei emperor sent a sealed imperial letter rebuking Nan'dang, and he withdrew to Chouchi. The Grand Consort Sima of Nanfeng died; she had been wife to the former Prince of Yingyang. Zhao Guang, Zhang Xun, and others plotted rebellion again and were put to death. Emperor Wen, middle reign, upper section—Yuanjia 17 (gengchen; AD 440). In spring, the first month, on jiyou, Juqu Wuji attacked Jiuquan; Yuan Jie despised him and went outside the walls to parley; on renzi Wuji seized Jie and besieged Jiuquan. In the second month, Xing Ying of Wei, acting palace attendant, came on an embassy. In the third month Juqu Wuji captured Jiuquan. In summer, the fourth month, on the first day wuwu, there was a solar eclipse. On gengchen Wuji attacked Zhangye; Tufa Baozhou held Shandan; on bingxu the Wei emperor sent Grand General Wang Jian of Yongchang to command the campaign against him. Grand Marshal Yikang held the court in his grasp. The emperor had been failing for years; worry would trigger relapses and often bring him to death's door; Yikang nursed him devotedly—food and medicine passed his own lips before they reached the emperor; he sometimes went whole nights without sleep; he decided and carried out every matter, within the palace and without. He loved administrative work and went through every document with relentless care. The emperor therefore gave him more and more; nothing he submitted was refused; provincial governors and below were chosen by Yikang; even questions of life and death he sometimes settled by written order. His power overshadowed the realm; court and country flocked to him; every morning hundreds of carriages crowded his gate, and Yikang received them all himself, never tiring. He had a prodigious memory—whatever reached his eyes or ears he never forgot; and in crowded halls he loved to recite what he remembered to show how clever he was. Capable men often won his special favor. He once told Liu Zhan, "What use are men like Wang Jinghong and Wang Qiu! They sit back and rake in rank and riches—who can explain that!" Yet he had little learning and no sense of the larger frame; he pulled every able courtier into his own house, while staff who had nothing to give or who crossed him were shunted off to terrace posts. He thought brotherly closeness meant he need not keep ruler-and-minister forms; he followed his impulses and never guarded himself. He kept more than six thousand private retainers without informing the court; gifts from every quarter went first in quality to Yikang, and only second best to the emperor; Once in winter the emperor ate oranges and sighed that they looked and tasted poor; Yikang said, "This year there are especially fine ones." He sent a man to the Eastern Mansion for oranges; the finest for the emperor measured three inches across. General-in-Chief Liu Zhan and Secretariat Director Yin Jingren were estranged; Zhan hoped to use Yikang's power to bring Yin down. As Yikang's power swelled, Zhan flattered him ever more openly, forgetting a subject's decorum, and the emperor grew quietly uneasy. When Zhan first came to court the emperor favored him generously. Zhan was eloquent on statecraft and steeped in earlier dynasties' precedents; his talk was so clear and orderly that listeners forgot fatigue. Whenever he entered Yunlong Gate the driver would unhitch; attendants and guards wandered off at will; he never left before nightfall—it was his habit. In his later years, as he stirred up Yikang, the emperor inwardly turned away yet treated him as before; he once told intimates, "When Liu Ban had just returned from the west, I would watch the sun, afraid he would leave; now when he comes in I watch the sun too, vexed that he won't go." Yin Jingren said privately to the emperor, "The Prince's weight threatens the realm; he should be checked a little." The emperor silently assented. Liu Bin, the Grand Marshal's left chief clerk, was kin to Zhan; Wang Lü, attendant gentleman to the Grand General, was Wang Mi's grandson; and Chief Clerk Liu Jingwen and Libationer Kong Yinxiu of Lu—all won Yikang's favor through flattery; seeing how often the emperor fell ill, they all said, "When the imperial carriage halts one evening, an elder prince ought to be enthroned." Once when the emperor was gravely ill he had Yikang prepare the deathbed edict. Yikang went back to his offices and, in tears, told Zhan and Jingren. Zhan said, "The realm is in peril—how could a child hold it!" Yikang and Jingren said nothing. Yet Yinxiu and his circle at once went to the Secretariat archives for the Jin precedent of enthroning Emperor Kang at the end of Xian'kang—Yikang knew nothing of it; when the emperor recovered he caught a whisper of it. Bin and the rest secretly schemed to steer the succession to Yikang; they formed factions, watched the inner palace, and framed in every way anyone who disagreed; they collected Yin's faults and merits, sometimes inventing charges to report to Zhan. From then on sovereign and minister drew apart. Yikang wanted Liu Bin as governor of Danyang and, in passing, told the emperor the man was poor. Before he finished, the emperor said, "Make him governor of Wu." Later, when Kuaiji governor Yang Xuanbao asked to go home, Yikang again wanted Bin in his place and asked the emperor, "Yang Xuanbao wants to leave—who should take Kuaiji?" The emperor had no one in mind and blurted, "I have already appointed Wang Hong." From the previous autumn the emperor never again visited the Eastern Mansion. In the fifth month, on guisi, Liu Zhan left office to mourn his mother. Zhan knew his guilt was plain and he had no refuge left; he told intimates, "This year I am finished. Ordinarily I lived by arguing my way forward, and so I rose; now I am cornered and that hope is gone—when ruin comes, can it wait long!" On yisi Juqu Wuji besieged Zhangye again, failed, and fell back to Linsong. The Wei emperor sent no further campaign, only an edict of warning. In the sixth month, on dingchou, the Northern Wei imperial grandson Jun was born. A general amnesty was proclaimed and the era name was changed to Taiping Zhenjun, after Kou Qianzhi's Divine Book, which speaks of "assisting the Northern Peaceful True Lord." Crown Prince Shao went to Jingkou to pay his respects at the Jing tomb. Minister of Works Liu Yikang, Prince of Jingling Liu Dan, and others accompanied him, while Liu Yigong, Prince of Jiangxia and inspector of Southern Yan Province, met them from Jiangdu. In autumn, the seventh month, on jichou, the Northern Wei Prince of Yongchang, Tuoba Jian, defeated Tufa Baozhou at Fanhe; Baozhou fled, and Jian sent the General Who Pacifies the South, Yu Juan, in pursuit. On bingshen the Northern Wei empress dowager, Lady Dou, died. On renzi the empress née Yuan died. On guichou Tufa Baozhou, cornered and desperate, took his own life. In the eighth month, on jiashen, Juqu Wuhui sent his palace chamberlain Liang Wei to the Northern Wei Prince of Yongchang, Tuoba Jian, to submit. He returned Jiuquan commandery along with the captured officer Yuan Jie and others. The Northern Wei emperor ordered Yu Juan to remain and garrison Liang Province. In the ninth month, on renzi, the Yuan empress was buried. The emperor saw that the breach with Liu Yikang, Prince of Pengcheng and minister of works, was already plain and would soon become catastrophe. In winter, the tenth month, on wushen, Liu Zhan was arrested and handed to the Court of Judicial Review. An edict laid bare his crimes, and he was executed in prison. His sons Liu An, Liu Liang, and Liu Yan were put to death as well, together with his partisans Liu Bin, Liu Jingwen, Kong Yinxiu, and eight others in all; He Mozi, lang of the Department of Storehouses, and four others were exiled to Guangzhou, followed by a general amnesty. That same day the emperor ordered Yikang to stay overnight and remain at the Secretariat. That evening Liu Zhan and his associates were seized one after another; Du Ji, inspector of Qing Province, mustered troops inside the palace to guard against any surprise and sent men to announce the imperial command to Yikang, setting forth the crimes of Zhan and his circle. Yikang submitted a memorial resigning his post. An edict made him inspector of Jiang Province while retaining his titles of palace attendant and grand general, and sent him out to take up residence at Yuzhang. Earlier, Yin Jingren had been bedridden for five years. Though he did not appear before the emperor, secret letters passed back and forth by the dozen each day, and every matter of state, great or small, was referred to him; his movements were so tightly concealed that no one could glimpse what he was doing. On the day Liu Zhan was arrested, Jingren had his robes brushed and his cap straightened, and those around him could not fathom his meaning. That night the emperor went to the Hall of Worthies Extended in the Garden of Flourishing Talents and summoned Jingren. Jingren still pleaded foot ailment and was carried in on a small litter to take his seat; the executions and dispositions were wholly entrusted to him. Earlier, Tan Daoji had recommended Shen Qingzhi of Wuxing as loyal, prudent, and versed in warfare, and the emperor had him lead the guard at the eastern side gate. As commander of the palace guards, Liu Zhan once told him, "You have been at the Secretariat a long time—it is about time something was done for you." Qingzhi said sternly, "This subordinate has served at the Secretariat ten years and ought to advance on his own merits. I will not lean on you for that again!" On the night Liu Zhan was arrested, the emperor opened the gate and summoned Qingzhi. Qingzhi entered in military dress with his trousers tied, and the emperor said, "Why are you dressed in such haste?" Qingzhi replied, "When the unit commander is summoned at midnight, one cannot dress at leisure." The emperor sent Qingzhi to seize Liu Bin and execute him. Xu Zhizhi, valiant cavalry general and son of Xu Daozhi, was especially close to Yikang, and the emperor deeply resented him. When Yikang fell, Zhizhi was arrested, and the crime called for death. His mother, the Princess of Kuaiji, was the eldest legitimate daughter among the imperial siblings and had always been treated with ceremony by the emperor; no household matter, great or small, was undertaken without consulting her first. When the founder was on campaign, he once cut reeds at Xinzhou with his own hands. There was a padded coat of homespun cloth that Empress Zang had made herself; after he rose to eminence he gave it to the princess, saying, "If later generations grow proud and extravagant beyond measure, show them this garment." Now the princess entered the palace to see the emperor, wailing. She no longer performed the ritual of subject and consort. She took the padded coat in a brocade pouch, flung it to the ground, and said, "Your house was poor and base to begin with—this is what my mother made for your father; now that you have eaten your fill at last, you would suddenly kill my son!" The emperor then pardoned him. Wang Qiu, minister of the civil office and uncle to Wang Lü, was known for his simplicity and restraint and was deeply valued by the emperor. Lü was ambitious by nature and had bound himself closely to Yikang and Zhizhi; Qiu warned him again and again, but he would not listen. On the night Xu Zhizhi was executed, Lü came barefoot to Qiu. Qiu ordered attendants to fetch shoes for him, first warmed wine and gave it to him, and said, "What did I tell you day after day?" Terrified, Lü came barefoot to Qiu. Qiu ordered attendants to fetch shoes for him, first warmed wine and gave it to him, and said, "What did I tell you day after day?" Lü was too frightened to answer. Qiu said calmly, "While your uncle is here, what do you have to fear!" Because of Qiu, the emperor spared Lü's life and had him dismissed to live at home. While Yikang held power, everyone vied for his favor. Only Jiang Pu, chief clerk to the minister of works, had early kept his distance and asked to leave for a post as grand administrator of Wuling. Tan Daoji once sought a marriage alliance with Pu for his son, but Pu firmly declined. Daoji then pressed the matter through Yikang, yet Pu refused all the more firmly and so was not caught in the ruin of the two great lords. When the emperor heard of this, he commended him. Pu was the son of Jiang Yi. Liu Yikang, Prince of Pengcheng, remained at the Secretariat more than ten days. When he came to bid the emperor farewell, he went down to the landing; the emperor only faced him and wept bitterly, saying nothing more. The emperor sent the monk Huilin to visit him. Yikang said, "Does your disciple have any prospect of return?" Huilin replied, "A pity you did not read a few hundred scrolls of books!" Earlier, Xie Shu, governor of Wuxing, was the younger brother of Xie Yu. He had long served Yikang with repeated counsel that brought benefit, and died young. As Yikang was about to depart for the south, he sighed, "In the past Xie Shu alone urged me to withdraw, while Liu Ban alone urged me to advance; now Ban lives while Shu is dead—no wonder ruin came!" The emperor also said, "If Xie Shu were still alive, Yikang would certainly not have come to this!" Xiao Bin, staff officer of the campaign against the barbarians, was made Yikang's consulting officer and concurrently inspector of Yuzhang; every matter, great or small, was entrusted to him. Bin was the son of Xiao Mo. The dragon valiant general Xiao Chengzhi was sent with troops to garrison and guard the region. Those among Yikang's attendants who were dear to him were all allowed to accompany him; his stipends and gifts were generous and unceasing, and every important matter of court was reported to him. After a long while, the emperor held a banquet with the Princess of Kuaiji, and they were very merry; the princess rose, bowed twice, and knocked her forehead to the ground, overcome with grief. The emperor did not understand her meaning and rose to support her himself. The princess said, "The carriage will certainly not survive the year's end in Your Majesty's court. I beg you now for his life." Thereupon she wailed bitterly. The emperor wept as well, pointed toward Mount Jiang, and said, "You need have no such fear. If I break today's oath, I would be betraying Chuning Mausoleum." He immediately sealed the wine he had been drinking and sent it to Yikang, with a note that read, "Your elder sister of Kuaiji drank at banquet and thought of her younger brother; the wine that remains is now sealed and sent." Therefore, for as long as the princess lived, Yikang remained unharmed. Sima Guang remarks: Emperor Wen's brotherly affection for Yikang at the outset was by no means slight. Yet in the end he lost the joy of brotherhood and damaged the bond between ruler and minister. Tracing the steps of the disorder, it was precisely because Liu Zhan's hunger for power and profit knew no limit. The Book of Poetry says, "The greedy man ruins his kind." Is this not what is meant! Liu Yigong, Prince of Jiangxia and inspector of the campaign south and Yan Province, was made minister of works and recorder of the affairs of the masters of writing. On wuyin Liu Yiqing, Prince of Linchuan, was made inspector of Southern Yan Province, and Yin Jingren was made inspector of Yang Province while retaining his titles of vice director and minister of the civil office. Chastened by Pengcheng's fall, Yigong, though he held overall recording, merely carried out documents, and the emperor was thereby reassured. Each year the emperor granted the ministerial mansion twenty million in cash, with other goods in proportion; but Yigong was extravagant by nature and his expenses were constantly insufficient, so the emperor gave additional cash amounting to ten million each year. In the eleventh month, on dinghai, the Wei emperor traveled to the northern mountains. After Yin Jingren took up the Yangzhou inspectorate, his chronic illness grew severe; the emperor decreed that no cart traffic be permitted on western province roads near him. On guichou he died. In the twelfth month, on guihai, Wang Qiu, palace attendant, was appointed vice director. On wuchen Prince Jun of Shixing was made inspector of Yang Province. Jun was still young, so all Yangzhou business was entrusted to Rear Army chief of staff Fan Ye and registrar Shen Pu. Fan Ye was Fan Tai's son; Shen Pu was Shen Linzi's son. Fan Ye was soon transferred to left guard general; Shen Yanzhi, bureau director, was made right guard general, and the two jointly commanded the palace guards; Yu Bingzhi was also made bureau director; all three shared in confidential counsel. Shen Yanzhi was Shen Jinzhi's great-grandson. Fan Ye was brilliantly gifted yet cold and shallow in conduct; he repeatedly breached ritual propriety and was scorned by respectable society. Restless and ambitious, he believed his gifts went unused and brooded in perpetual dissatisfaction. Minister of the civil office He Shangzhi told the emperor: "Fan Ye's aims are irregular—send him out as Guangzhou inspector; if he breeds trouble inside the capital, execution will be unavoidable. Rushing to the axe is no credit to the realm." The emperor replied: "We have only just killed Liu Zhan; to transfer Fan Ye now would make people say you cannot bear talent. I know I have heard slander. Yet knowing him as we do, he cannot harm us." That year Wei's pacifier of the south Wang Huilong died; Lü Xuanbo kept watch at his tomb and never left it for the rest of his life. The Wei emperor wished to appoint Yi Bo minister of the civil office and enfeoff him as duke of a commandery. Yi Bo declined: "The ministry is arduous and a ducal title is weighty—unsuited to one as young, crude, and shallow as I am." The emperor asked what post he wanted. He answered: "The central and secretariat bureaus are full of literati; if Your Majesty's kindness will not relent, let me take a lesser place among them." The emperor agreed and appointed him general who guards the state within the center and director of the secretariat. Yang Nandang, great king of Qin, again styled himself king of Wudu. Yuanjia 18 of Emperor Wen's reign (xinsi; AD 441). In spring, the first month, on guimao, Wei appointed Juqu Wuhui grand general who pacifies the west, governor of Liangzhou, and king of Jiuquan. Prince Yikang of Pengcheng reached Yuzhang and declined the inspectorate; on jiachen he was made overseer of military affairs for Jiang, Jiao, and Guang provinces. Former dragon-charger army aide Fu Lingyu of Badong presented a memorial at court, arguing: "Yuan Ang once warned Emperor Wen of Han: 'If the king of Huainan dies on the road from exposure, Your Majesty will be blamed for killing your own brother. Wen did not listen and later regretted it too late. Prince Yikang of Pengcheng was a favorite of the late emperor and is Your Majesty's younger brother. If he has stumbled, count his faults and virtues and teach him by moral example—why trust vague suspicion, strip him in a day, and exile him to the far south! Common people everywhere grieve for Your Majesty because of this. The fate of Luling is warning enough. I fear Yikang may die in the south before his time; though I am nobody, I am ashamed for Your Majesty. Your Majesty sees only that bad branches must be pruned—do you not see that pruning wounds the tree! I beg you to recall Yikang quickly to the capital; with brothers reconciled and court united, the realm's hopes will be satisfied and rumor will die. Must you wait for a minister of works and a Yangzhou inspector before you can restore Prince Pengcheng! If I am wrong, let me accept death to answer to Your Majesty." The memorial was read; he was seized, sent to Jiankang prison, and ordered to die. Pei Ziye wrote: When a ruler does good, it is like clouds and rain—every creature shares the gift; when he turns cruel, it is like heaven rending and earth shaking—every creature is appalled; who does not know, who does not see! Can slaying one man or silencing one mouth avert or erase such things? That is only rage outpacing reason and worsening the disease. Even the founding emperor's tolerance could not keep him from shutting his ears at Pengcheng; after that, who dared speak plainly! For generations under Song, honest counsel was rare—had the marrow of integrity shamed the ancients? Or did the age and its punishments make it so? Zhang Yue fell to a power minister; Fu Lingyu died under a sage ruler—Song's cauldron and axe: how dreadful! Wei's prince of Xinxing, Jun, was debauched and lawless; in the third month, on gengxu, he was demoted to duke. Jun's mother had already been condemned to death; he brooded on grievance and plotted rebellion; when the plot was exposed, he was ordered to die. On xinhai Wei enfeoffed the Rouran Qiliegui as king of Shuofang and Juqu Wannian as king of Zhangye. In summer, the fourth month, Juqu Tang'er rebelled against Juqu Wuhui; Wuhui left his cousin Tian Zhou to hold Jiuquan and marched with his brother Yide against Tang'er; Tang'er was defeated and killed. Believing Wuhui would remain a frontier menace, on gengchen Wei sent pacifier of the south Xi Juan against Jiuquan. In autumn, the eighth month, on xinhai, Wei sent gentleman of the loose retinue Zhang Wei as envoy. In the ninth month, on wuxu, Wei's prince of Yongchang, Jian, died. In winter, the eleventh month, on wuzi, Wang Qiu died. On jihai Meng Yun, governor of Danyang, was appointed vice director. When Jiuquan ran out of food, more than ten thousand people starved; Juqu Tian Zhou killed his wife to feed his soldiers. On gengzi Xi Juan stormed Jiuquan, seized Tian Zhou, sent him to Pingcheng, and had him killed. Short of food and fearing Wei's armies, Juqu Wuhui planned to cross the western desert and sent his brother An Zhou west against Shanshan. The Shanshan king was ready to submit, but a Wei envoy arrived and persuaded him to resist; An Zhou failed to take the city and retreated to Hedong Fort. The Di king Yang Nandang invaded at full strength, aiming to seize Shu; he sent general who establishes loyalty Fu Chong from Dongluo to block Liangzhou forces; Liang and Qin inspectors Liu Zhendao attacked Chong and killed him. Liu Zhendao was Liu Huaijing's son. Nandang took Jiameng, captured Jinshou prefect Shen Tan, and besieged Fucheng. Baxi and Zitong prefect Liu Daoxi held his cities; after ten days of assault Nandang withdrew. Liu Daoxi was Liu Daochan's younger brother. In the twelfth month, on guihai, the court ordered dragon-charger general Pei Fangming and others to lead three thousand armored men, with additional troops from Jing and Yong, to campaign against Nandang—all under Liu Zhendao. Jinning prefect Cuan Songzi rebelled; Jinzhou inspector Xu Xun suppressed him. Tianmen barbarians Tian Xiangqiu and others rebelled and raided Louzhong; Jingzhou inspector Prince Yiji of Hengyang sent acting aide Cao Sunnian, who defeated them. Kou Qianzhi told the Wei emperor: "Your Majesty reigns as the Perfected Lord and has founded the Still-Wheel Heavenly Palace rite—nothing like it since the world began. You should receive the talisman writ and proclaim your sacred virtue." The emperor agreed.
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