1
資治通鑑第274卷
Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, Volume 274
2
【後唐紀三】起旃蒙作噩十一月，盡柔兆閹茂三月，不滿一年。
[Later Tang Records 3] From the eleventh month of Zhanmeng Zuoe through the third month of Rouzhao Yanmao—less than a year in all.
3
莊宗光聖神閔孝皇帝下同光三年（ 乙酉，公元九二五年）
Under Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang, Tongguang year 3 ( yiyou, AD 925)
4
十一月，丙申，蜀主至成都，百官及後宮迎於七里亭。 蜀主入妃嬪中作回鶻隊入宮。 丁酉，出見群臣於文明殿，泣下沾襟，君臣相視，竟無一言以救國患。
In the eleventh month, on the day bingshen, the Shu ruler reached Chengdu, where officials and the inner palace met him at Qili Pavilion. The Shu ruler walked in among his consorts in a Uyghur-style formation and entered the palace. On dingyou he received the ministers in the Hall of Civilization, weeping until his robe was wet; ruler and ministers gazed at one another, and in the end no one could utter a word that might save the realm.
5
戊戌，李紹琛至利州，修桔柏浮梁。 昭武節度使林思諤先棄城奔閬州，遣使請降。 甲辰，魏王繼岌至劍州，蜀武信節度使兼中書令王宗壽以遂、合、渝、瀘、昌五州降。
On wuxu, Li Shaochen arrived at Lizhou and repaired the floating bridge at Jubai. The Zhaowu military commissioner Lin Si'e had already abandoned his post and fled to Langzhou, where he sent envoys to offer surrender. On jiachen, Prince of Wei Li Jiji reached Jianzhou; Wang Zongshou, Shu military commissioner of Wuxin and concurrent Grand Councillor, surrendered the five prefectures of Sui, He, Yu, Lu, and Chang.
6
王宗弼至成都，登大玄門，嚴兵自衛。 蜀主及太后自往勞之，宗弼驕慢無復臣禮。 乙巳，劫遷蜀主及太后後宮諸王於西宮，收其璽綬，使親吏於義興門邀取內庫金帛，悉歸其家。 其子承涓杖劍入宮，取蜀主寵姬數人以歸。 丙午，宗弼自稱權西川兵馬留後。
When Wang Zongbi reached Chengdu, he mounted the Great Mysterious Gate and posted troops in tight array to guard himself. The Shu ruler and the empress dowager went in person to comfort him, yet Zongbi was haughty and insolent and showed no further regard for the duties of a subject. On yisi he seized the Shu ruler, the empress dowager, the inner palace, and the princes and moved them to the Western Palace; he took their seals and cords of office and had trusted agents at the Yixing Gate seize gold and silks from the inner treasury and carry them all to his home. His son Cheng Juan entered the palace with sword in hand and carried off several of the Shu ruler's favorite consorts. On bingwu, Zongbi declared himself acting military commissioner of the western circuit.
7
李紹琛進至綿州，倉庫民居已為蜀兵所燔，又斷綿江浮梁，水深，無舟楫可渡，紹琛謂李嚴曰：「吾懸軍深入，利在速戰。 乘蜀人破膽之時，但得百騎過鹿頭關，彼且迎降不暇； 若俟修繕橋樑，必留數日，或教王衍堅閉近關，折吾兵勢，倘延旬浹，則勝負未可知矣。」 乃與嚴乘馬浮渡江，從兵得濟者僅千人，溺死者亦千餘人，遂入鹿關頭； 丁未，進據漢州； 居三日，後軍始至。
Li Shaochen pressed on to Mianzhou, but Shu troops had already burned the storehouses and dwellings and destroyed the floating bridge over the Mian River; the water ran deep, and there were no boats to cross. Shaochen told Li Yan, "I have thrown an isolated army deep into enemy territory—our advantage lies in fighting fast. While the Shu are still demoralized, if we can get even a hundred horsemen through Deer Head Pass, they will be too busy rushing to surrender to resist; if we wait to repair the bridges we will lose days, and someone may persuade Wang Yan to shut the nearby passes and blunt our momentum; if it drags on ten days or more, victory and defeat become uncertain." He and Yan then rode their horses across the river; only about a thousand of their men got over, while more than a thousand drowned, and they entered Deer Head Pass. On dingwei they advanced and seized Hanzhou; three days passed before the rear army finally caught up.
8
王宗弼遣使以幣馬牛酒勞軍，且以蜀主書遺李嚴曰：「公來吾即降。」 或謂嚴：「公首建伐蜀之策，蜀人怨公深入骨髓，不可往。」 嚴不從，欣然馳入成都，撫諭吏民，告以大軍繼至，蜀君臣後宮皆慟哭。 蜀主引嚴見太后，以母妻為托。 宗弼猶乘城為守備，嚴悉命撤去樓櫓。
Wang Zongbi sent envoys with gifts, horses, cattle, and wine to reward the army, and forwarded a letter from the Shu ruler to Li Yan: "When you arrive, I will surrender at once." Others warned Yan, "You were the first to urge the campaign against Shu; the Shu people hate you to the bone—you must not go." Yan refused to listen. He rode gladly into Chengdu, reassured officials and commoners, and announced that the main army was close behind; the Shu ruler, his ministers, and the inner palace all broke into lamentation. The Shu ruler brought Yan before the empress dowager and entrusted his mother and wife to him. Zongbi still held the walls in a defensive posture, but Yan ordered every tower and parapet torn down.
9
己酉，魏王繼岌至綿州，蜀主命翰林學士李昊草降表，又命中書待郎、同平章事王鍇草降書，遣兵部侍郎歐陽彬奉之以迎繼岌及郭崇韜。
On jiyou, Prince of Wei Li Jiji reached Mianzhou. The Shu ruler had Hanlin academician Li Hao draft the surrender memorial and Chief Councillor Wang Kai draft the surrender letter, then sent Vice Minister of War Ouyang Bin to present them and welcome Jiji and Guo Chongtao.
10
王宗弼稱蜀君臣久欲歸命，而內樞密使宋光嗣、景潤澄、宣徽使李周輅、歐陽晃熒惑蜀主； 皆斬之，函首送繼岌。 又責文思殿大學士、禮部尚書、成都尹韓昭佞諛，梟於金馬坊門。 內外馬步都指揮使兼中書令徐延瓊、果州團練使潘在迎、嘉州刺史顧在珣及諸貴戚皆惶恐，傾其家金帛妓妾以賂宗弼，僅得免死。 凡素所不快者，宗弼皆殺之。
Wang Zongbi claimed that the Shu court had long wished to submit, but inner privy commissioners Song Guangsi and Jing Runcheng and palace commissioners Li Zhou'e and Ouyang Huang had misled the Shu ruler; all were executed, their heads boxed and sent to Jiji. He also accused Wensi Hall academician, Minister of Rites, and Chengdu prefect Han Zhao of flattery and had him executed and displayed at the Jinma Ward gate. Commander-in-chief Xu Yanqiong, Guozhou commissioner Pan Zaiying, Jiazhou prefect Gu Zaiqun, and other noble kin were terrified; they emptied their households of gold, silks, and concubines to bribe Zongbi and barely escaped with their lives. Everyone Zongbi had long resented, he killed.
11
辛亥，繼岌至德陽。 宗弼遣使奉箋； 稱已遷蜀主於西第，安撫軍城，以俟王師。 又使其子承班以蜀主後宮及珍玩賂繼岌及郭崇韜，求西川節度使，繼岌曰：「此皆我家物，奚以獻為！」 留其物而遣之。
On xinhai, Jiji reached Deyang. Zongbi sent envoys with a memorial; saying he had moved the Shu ruler to the western residence, pacified the garrison city, and was awaiting the imperial army. He also had his son Cheng Ban offer the Shu ruler's inner palace and treasures to bribe Jiji and Guo Chongtao for the western-circuit command. Jiji said, "These are all my family's possessions—why offer them as gifts!" He kept the goods but sent them away.
12
李紹琛留漢州八日以俟都統，甲寅，繼岌至漢州，王宗弼迎謁； 乙卯，至成都。 丙辰，李嚴引蜀主及百官儀衛出降於陞遷橋，蜀主白衣、銜璧、牽羊，草繩縈首，百官衰絰、徒跣、輿櫬，號哭俟命。 繼岌受璧，崇韜解縛，焚櫬，承製釋罪； 君臣東北向拜謝。 丁巳，大軍入成都。 崇韜禁軍士侵掠，市不改肆。 自出師至克蜀，凡七十日。 得節度十，州六十四，縣二百四十九，兵三萬，鎧仗、錢糧、金銀、繒錦共以千萬計。
Li Shaochen waited eight days at Hanzhou for the commander-in-chief; on jiayin Jiji reached Hanzhou, and Wang Zongbi came out to welcome him; on yimao they entered Chengdu. On bingchen Li Yan led the Shu ruler and officials with full ceremonial escort to surrender at Shengqian Bridge. The Shu ruler wore white, held a jade disc in his mouth, led a sheep, and had a grass cord about his neck; the officials wore mourning dress, went barefoot, and carried coffins, wailing as they awaited their fate. Jiji accepted the jade disc; Chongtao untied them, burned the coffins, and by imperial order absolved them; ruler and ministers bowed in thanks toward the northeast. On dingsi the main army entered Chengdu. Chongtao forbade looting, and the markets remained undisturbed. From the army's departure to the conquest of Shu, seventy days in all. They took ten military commissions, sixty-four prefectures, two hundred forty-nine counties, thirty thousand troops, and armor, weapons, money, grain, gold, silver, silks, and brocades reckoned in the tens of millions.
13
高季興聞蜀亡，方食，失匕箸，曰：「是老夫之過也。」 梁震曰：「不足憂也。 唐主得蜀益驕，亡無日矣，安知其不為吾福！」 楚王殷聞蜀亡，上表稱：「臣已營衡麓之間為菟裘之地，願上印綬以保餘齡。」 上優詔慰諭之。
When Gao Jixing heard that Shu had fallen, he was at table and dropped his spoon and chopsticks. "This is my fault," he said." Liang Zhen said, "There is no need to worry. The Tang ruler, having taken Shu, will grow more arrogant still; his fall cannot be far off—who knows but that this may not turn to our advantage!" When King Yin of Chu heard that Shu had fallen, he submitted a memorial: "Your servant has already prepared a retreat between Mount Heng and Mount Lu and wishes to surrender his seal and cord of office to live out his remaining years." The emperor answered with a gracious edict of reassurance.
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平蜀之功，李紹琛為多，位在董璋上。 而璋素與郭崇韜善，崇韜數召璋與議軍事。 紹琛心不平，謂璋曰：「吾有平蜀之功，公等樸樕相從，反呫囁於郭公之門，謀相傾害。 吾為都將，獨不能以軍法斬公邪！」 璋訴於崇韜。 十二月，崇韜表璋為東川節度使，解其軍職。 紹琛愈怒，曰：「吾冒白刃，陵險阻，定兩川，璋乃坐有之邪！」 乃見崇韜言：「東川重地，任尚書有文武才。 宜表為帥。」 崇韜怒曰：「紹琛反邪，何敢違吾節度！」 紹琛懼而退。
Li Shaochen had done the most to pacify Shu, and his rank stood above Dong Zhang's. Yet Zhang had long been friendly with Guo Chongtao, who repeatedly summoned him to discuss military affairs. Shaochen was resentful and told Zhang, "I won Shu, yet you rustic fellows trail along and whisper at Master Guo's gate, plotting against one another. As commander-in-chief, can I not execute you by military law!" Zhang complained to Chongtao. In the twelfth month Chongtao recommended Zhang as Dongchuan military commissioner and relieved him of his army command. Shaochen grew angrier still. "I braved naked blades and crossed dangerous passes to settle the two circuits—and Zhang is to sit and take it!" He then went to Chongtao and said, "Dongchuan is a weighty post; Vice Minister Ren has both civil and military talent. You should recommend him as commander." Chongtao snapped, "Has Shaochen rebelled, that he dares defy my orders!" Shaochen withdrew in fear.
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初，帝遣宦者李從襲等從魏王繼岌伐蜀； 繼岌雖為都統，軍中制置補署一出郭崇韜，崇韜終日決事，將吏賓客趨走盈庭，而都統府惟大將晨謁外，牙門索然，從襲等固恥之。 及破蜀，蜀之貴臣大將爭以寶貨、妓樂遺崇韜及其子廷誨，魏王所得，不過匹馬、束帛、唾壺、麈柄而已，從襲等益不平。
Earlier the emperor had sent the eunuchs Li Congxi and others to accompany Prince of Wei Li Jiji in the campaign against Shu; though Jiji was commander-in-chief, every military arrangement and appointment came from Guo Chongtao. Chongtao decided affairs all day while generals, clerks, and guests crowded his hall; at the commander-in-chief's headquarters, apart from the great generals' morning audience, the gate stood empty. Congxi and the others were deeply humiliated. After Shu fell, Shu's nobles and generals showered Chongtao and his son Tinghui with treasures, courtesans, and musicians; the Prince of Wei received nothing more than a horse, silks, a spittoon, and a fly-whisk. Congxi and the others grew still more bitter.
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王宗弼之自為西川留後也，賂崇韜求為節度使，崇韜陽許之。 既而久未得，乃帥蜀人列狀見繼岌，請留崇韜鎮蜀。 從襲等因謂繼岌曰：「郭公父子專橫，今又使蜀人請己為帥，其志難測，王不可不為備。」 繼岌謂崇韜曰：「主上倚侍中如山嶽，不可離廟堂，豈肯棄元臣於蠻夷之域乎！ 且此非余之所敢知也，請諸人詣闕自陳。」 由是繼岌與崇韜互相疑。 會宋光葆自梓州來，訴王宗弼誣殺宋光嗣等。 又，崇韜征犒軍錢數萬緡於宗弼，宗弼靳之，士卒怨怒，夜，縱火喧噪。 崇韜欲誅宗弼以自明，己巳，白繼岌收宗弼及王宗勳、王宗渥，皆數其不忠之罪，族誅之，籍沒其家。 蜀人爭食宗弼之肉。
From the time Wang Zongbi had made himself acting western-circuit commissioner, he bribed Chongtao for the full commission, and Chongtao pretended to agree. When he still had not received it after a long wait, he led the Shu people in a joint petition to Jiji asking that Chongtao be left to govern Shu. Congxi and the others then told Jiji, "Master Guo and his son are running everything; now they have had the Shu people ask that he be made commander—their intentions are hard to read. Your Highness must be on guard." Jiji told Chongtao, "Our lord relies on the Chief Councillor as on mountains and cliffs; he cannot leave the court—would he abandon a founding minister in barbarian lands! Besides, this is not for me to decide; let the petitioners go to court and speak for themselves." From this Jiji and Chongtao began to mistrust each other. Just then Song Guangbao arrived from Zizhou and accused Wang Zongbi of falsely killing Song Guangsi and the others. Chongtao also demanded tens of thousands of strings in reward money from Zongbi; Zongbi refused to pay, and the soldiers grew angry. That night they set fires and raised an uproar. Chongtao wanted to execute Zongbi to clear himself. On jisi he asked Jiji to seize Zongbi along with Wang Zongxun and Wang Zongwo, charged them with disloyalty, executed their entire clans, and confiscated their property. The people of Shu fought over Zongbi's flesh.
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辛未，閩忠懿王審知卒，子延翰自稱威武留後。 汀州民陳本聚眾三萬圍汀州，延翰遣右軍都監柳邕等將兵二萬討之。
On xinwei the Loyal and Sagacious King of Min Wang Shenzhi died; his son Yanhan declared himself acting Weiwu commissioner. Chen Ben of Tingzhou raised thirty thousand men and besieged Tingzhou; Yanhan sent right-army inspector Liu Yong and others with twenty thousand troops to suppress him.
18
癸酉，王承休、王宗汭至成都，魏王繼岌詰之曰：「居大鎮，擁強兵，何以不拒戰？」 對曰：「畏大王神武。」 曰：「然則何不降？」 對曰：「王師不入境。」 曰：「所俱入羌者幾人？」 對曰：「萬二千人。」 曰：「今歸者幾人？」 對曰：「二千人。」 曰：「可以償萬人之死矣。」 皆斬之，並其子。
On guiyou Wang Chengxiu and Wang Zongrui reached Chengdu. Prince of Wei Li Jiji questioned them: "You held a great command and strong troops—why did you not fight?" They answered, "We feared Your Highness's martial prowess." He said, "Then why did you not surrender?" They answered, "The imperial army had not yet entered our territory." He asked, "How many went with you into Qiang territory?" They answered, "Twelve thousand men." He asked, "How many have returned now?" They answered, "Two thousand men." He said, "That will answer for the deaths of ten thousand men." All were executed, together with their sons.
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丙子，以知北都留守事孟知祥為西川節度使、同平章事，促召赴洛陽。 帝議選北都留守，樞密承旨段徊等惡鄴都留守張憲，不欲其在朝廷，皆曰：「北都非張憲不可。 憲雖有宰相器，今國家新得中原，宰相在天子目前，事有得失，可以改更，比之此都獨系一方安危，不為重也。」 乃徙憲為太原尹，知北都留守事。 以戶部尚書王正言為興唐尹，知鄴都留守事。 正言昏耄，帝以武德使史彥瓊為鄴都監軍。 彥瓊，本伶人也，有寵於帝。 魏、博等六州軍旅金谷之政皆決於彥瓊，威福自恣，陵忽將佐，自正言以下皆諂事之。
On bingzi Meng Zhixiang, administrator of the northern capital, was appointed western-circuit military commissioner and concurrent Chief Councillor and urgently summoned to Luoyang. The emperor discussed choosing a northern-capital administrator. Privy Council director Duan Huai and others disliked Ye capital administrator Zhang Xian and did not want him at court; all said, "Only Zhang Xian will do for the northern capital. Though Xian has the makings of a chief councillor, the state has just taken the central plain; a chief councillor stands before the Son of Heaven, and mistakes can be corrected—whereas this capital alone holds the safety of a whole region, which matters more." Xian was therefore transferred to Taiyuan prefect and made administrator of the northern capital. Minister of Revenue Wang Zhengyan was made Xingtang prefect and administrator of the Ye capital. Zhengyan was senile, so the emperor made Wude commissioner Shi Yanqiong military overseer of the Ye capital. Yanqiong had originally been an actor and enjoyed the emperor's favor. Military and fiscal affairs for the six prefectures of Wei, Bo, and the rest all fell to Yanqiong; he wielded power as he pleased, looked down on officers, and from Zhengyan downward everyone flattered him.
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初，帝得魏州銀槍效節都近八千人，以為親軍，皆恿悍無敵。 夾河之戰，實賴其用，屢立殊功，常許以滅梁之日大加賞賚。 既而河南平，雖賞賚非一，而士卒恃功，驕恣無厭，更成怨望。 是歲大饑多流亡，租賦不充，道路塗潦，漕輦艱澀，東都倉廩空竭，無以給軍士。 租唐使孔謙日於上東門外望諸州漕運，至者隨以給之。 軍士乏食，有雇妻鬻子者，老弱采蔬於野，百十為群，往往餒死，流言怨嗟，而帝游畋不息。 己卯，獵於白沙，皇后，皇子、後宮畢從。 庚辰，宿伊闕； 辛巳，宿潭泊； 壬午，宿龕澗； 癸未，還宮。 時大雪，吏座有僵仆於道路者。 伊、汝間饑尤甚，衛兵所過，責其供餉，不得，則壞其什器，撤其室廬以為薪，甚於寇盜，縣吏皆竄匿山谷。 有白龍見於漢宮； 漢主改元白龍，更名曰龔。
Earlier the emperor had taken nearly eight thousand men of the Silver Spear Xiaojie command at Weizhou as his personal army; all were fierce and matchless. In the battles along the Yellow River they had proved indispensable and won repeated distinction; he had often promised that when Liang fell they would be richly rewarded. After Henan was pacified, rewards came again and again, yet the soldiers, trusting in their merit, grew arrogant and insatiable and turned to resentment instead. That year famine drove many to flee; taxes went uncollected; roads were mired and river transport stalled; the eastern capital's granaries stood empty, and there was nothing with which to pay the troops. Rent-Tang commissioner Kong Qian waited daily at the Upper East Gate for grain shipments from the prefectures and issued whatever arrived on the spot. The troops went hungry; some hired out their wives or sold their children; the old and weak gathered wild vegetables in bands of dozens and often starved; murmurs of resentment spread, yet the emperor kept hunting without pause. On jimao he hunted at Baisha, with the empress, princes, and entire inner palace in attendance. On gengchen he lodged at Yique; on xinsi he lodged at Tanbo; on renwu he lodged at Kanjian; on guiwei he returned to the palace. Snow fell heavily, and some of the officials' attendants collapsed dead in the roads. Famine was worst between the Yi and Ru rivers. Wherever palace guards passed they demanded supplies; when refused they smashed goods and tore down houses for firewood, behaving worse than bandits, and county clerks fled into the hills. A white dragon was seen in the Han palace; the Han ruler changed the era name to Bailong and took the personal name Gong.
21
長和驃信鄭旻遣其布燮鄭昭淳求婚於漢，漢主以女增城公主妻之。 長和即唐之南詔也。
Changhe commander-in-chief Zheng Min sent minister Zheng Zhaochun to seek a marriage alliance with Han; the Han ruler gave his daughter Princess Zengcheng as bride. Changhe was Tang's Nanzhao.
22
成德節度使李嗣源入朝。
Chengde military commissioner Li Siyuan came to court.
23
閏月，己丑朔，孟知祥至洛陽，帝寵待甚厚。
In the intercalary month, on the jichou new moon, Meng Zhixiang reached Luoyang, where the emperor received him with exceptional favor.
24
帝以軍儲不足，謀於群臣，豆盧革以下皆莫知為計。 吏部尚書李琪上疏，以為：「古者量入以為出，計農而發兵，故雖有水旱之災而無匱乏之憂。 近代稅農以養兵，未有農富給而兵不足，農捐瘠而兵豐飽者也。 今縱未能蠲省租稅，苟除折納、紐配之法，農亦可以小休矣。」 帝即敕有司如琪所言，然竟不能行。
With military stores running short, the emperor consulted his ministers, but Doulu Ge and the rest could offer no plan. Minister of Personnel Li Qi submitted a memorial arguing that in antiquity rulers measured income before spending and counted the harvest before raising armies, so that even flood and drought brought no fear of shortage. In recent times the peasantry is taxed to feed the army; never yet have farmers been prosperous while troops went hungry, or farmers been impoverished while soldiers were well fed. Even if rents cannot yet be cut, abolishing conversion payments and forced substitution would at least give farmers some relief." "The emperor immediately ordered the responsible offices to follow Qi's advice, but in the end nothing was done.
25
丁酉，詔蜀朝所署官四品以上降授有差，五品以下才地無取者悉縱歸田裡； 其先降及有功者，委崇韜隨事獎任。 又賜王衍詔，略曰：「固當襲土而封，必不薄人於險。 三辰在上，一言不欺。」
On dingyou an edict demoted former Shu officials of the fourth rank and above with varying degrees of severity and released fifth-rank officials and below who lacked merit to return home; those who had surrendered early or rendered merit were left to Chongtao to reward and appoint as he saw fit. He also sent Wang Yan an edict that read in part, "You shall receive a fief and enfeoffment; I will not treat a man harshly in his distress. With sun, moon, and stars as witness, not one word shall prove false."
26
庚子，彰武、保大節度使兼史書令高萬興卒，以其子保大留後允韜為彰武留後。
On gengzi Zhangwu and Baoda military commissioner Gao Wanxing, who also held the post of Director of the History Bureau, died; his son Yuntao, acting commissioner of Baoda, was made acting commissioner of Zhangwu.
27
帝以軍儲不充，欲如汴州，諫官上言：「不如節儉以足用，自古無就食天子。 今楊氏未滅，不宜示以虛實。」 乃止。
With military stores depleted, the emperor wished to go to Bianzhou; remonstrating officials urged, "Better to practice frugality than to move the court; never in history has a Son of Heaven gone elsewhere to be fed. The Yang regime is not yet destroyed; we should not reveal our weakness." He abandoned the plan.
28
辛亥，立皇弟存美為邕王，存霸為永王，存禮為薛王，存渥為申王，存又為睦王，存確為通王，存紀為雅王。
On xinhai the emperor enfeoffed his younger brothers: Cunmei as Prince of Yong, Cunba as Prince of Yong, Cunli as Prince of Xue, Cunwo as Prince of Shen, Cunyou as Prince of Mu, Cunque as Prince of Tong, and Cunji as Prince of Ya.
29
郭崇韜素疾宦官，嘗密謂魏王繼岌曰：「大王他日得天下，騬馬亦不可乘，況任宦官！ 宜盡去之，專用士人。」 呂知柔竊聽，聞之，由是宦官皆切齒。 時成都雖下，而蜀中盜賊群起，佈滿山林。 崇韜恐大軍既去，更為後患，命任圜、張筠分道招討，以是淹留未還。 帝遣宦者向延嗣促之，崇韜不出郊迎，及見，禮節又倨，延嗣怒。 李從襲謂延嗣曰：「魏王，太子也； 主上萬福，而郭公專權如是。 郭廷誨擁徒出入，日與軍中饒將、蜀土豪傑狎飲，指天畫地，近聞白其父請表己為蜀帥； 又言『蜀地富饒，大人宜善自為謀。』 今諸軍將校皆郭氏之黨，王寄身於虎狼之口，一委有變，吾屬不知委骨何地矣。」 因相向垂涕。 延嗣歸，具以語劉後。 後泣訴於帝，請早救繼岌之死。 前此帝聞蜀人請崇韜為帥，已不平，至是聞延嗣之言，不能無疑。 帝閱蜀府庫之籍，曰：「人言蜀中珍貨無算，何如是之微也？」 延嗣曰：「臣聞蜀破，其珍貨皆入於崇韜父子，崇韜有金萬兩，銀四十萬兩，錢百萬緡，名馬千匹，他物稱是，廷誨所取，復在其外； 故縣官所得不多耳。」 帝遂怒形於色。 及孟知祥將行，帝語之曰：「聞郭崇韜有異志，卿到，為朕誅之。」 知祥曰：「崇韜，國之勳舊，不宜有此。 俟臣至蜀察之，苟無他志則遣還。」 帝許之。
Guo Chongtao had long hated eunuchs and once told Prince of Wei Li Jiji in private, "When Your Highness one day rules the realm, even a gelded horse should not be ridden—how much less should eunuchs hold office! Remove them all and employ only scholar-officials." Lü Zhirou overheard this in secret, and from then on the eunuchs gnashed their teeth against Chongtao. Though Chengdu had fallen, bandits rose throughout Shu and filled the hills. Chongtao feared that once the main army left, the bandits would become a lasting threat, so he ordered Ren Huan and Zhang Jun to pacify them by separate routes and lingered in Shu. The emperor sent eunuch Xiang Yansi to hurry him along. Chongtao did not go out to welcome him, and when they met his manner was arrogant; Yansi was furious. Li Congxi told Yansi, "The Prince of Wei is the crown prince; our lord enjoys every blessing, yet Master Guo wields power like this. Guo Tinghui goes about with a retinue, drinking daily with senior generals and Shu magnates, boasting extravagantly; lately it is said he urged his father to memorialize asking that he be made commander of Shu; and said, 'Shu is rich; Father ought to look to his own interests.' Now every officer is a Guo partisan; the Prince stands among wolves—if anything goes wrong, we will not know where our bones will lie." They faced one another and wept. Yansi returned and reported everything to Empress Liu. The empress wept before the emperor and begged him to save Jiji before it was too late. The emperor had already been displeased when he heard the Shu people wanted Chongtao as commander; now Yansi's report left him deeply suspicious. The emperor examined the Shu treasury registers and said, "People say Shu held untold treasures—why is the tally so small?" Yansi said, "I hear that when Shu fell, the treasures went to Chongtao and his son. Chongtao alone has ten thousand taels of gold, four hundred thousand taels of silver, a million strings of cash, a thousand fine horses, and goods to match—and Tinghui's share is on top of that; so the state treasury received little." The emperor's anger showed plainly on his face. As Meng Zhixiang was about to leave, the emperor told him, "I hear Guo Chongtao harbors rebellious intentions. When you arrive, put him to death for me." Zhixiang said, "Chongtao is a founding minister of the state; he should not be capable of this. Let me reach Shu and investigate; if he has no other intent, send him home." The emperor agreed.
30
壬子，知祥發洛陽。 帝尋復遣衣甲庫使馬彥珪馳詣成都觀崇韜去就，如奉詔班師則已，若有遷延跋扈之狀，則與繼岌圖之。 彥珪見皇后，說之曰：「臣見向延嗣言蜀中事勢憂在朝夕，今上當斷不斷，夫成敗之機，間不容髮，安能緩急稟命於三千里外乎！」 皇后復言於帝，帝曰：「傳聞之言，未知虛實，豈可遽爾果決？」 皇后不得請，退，自為教與繼岌，令殺崇韜。 知祥行至石壕，彥珪夜叩門宣詔，促知祥赴鎮，知祥竊歎曰：「亂將作矣！」 乃晝夜兼行。
On renzi Zhixiang left Luoyang. The emperor soon sent wardrobe-and-armor-store commissioner Ma Yan'gui posthaste to Chengdu to watch Chongtao. If Chongtao obeyed orders and withdrew, so be it; if he delayed or acted arrogantly, Yan'gui was to plot with Jiji against him. Yan'gui saw the empress and urged, "Xiang Yansi says the crisis in Shu may come any day. The emperor hesitates when he should act. Success and failure hang by a thread—how can we wait for orders from three thousand li away!" The empress spoke to the emperor again. He said, "These are rumors—we do not know what is true. How can we act on them so hastily?" The empress could not persuade him. She withdrew and drafted her own order to Jiji commanding Chongtao's death. When Zhixiang reached Shihao, Yan'gui knocked at his door at night with the edict, urging him to hurry to his post. Zhixiang sighed to himself, "Trouble is coming!" He pressed on day and night.
31
初，楚王殷既得湖南，不征商旅，由是四方商旅輻水奏。 湖南地多鉛鐵，殷用軍都判官高郁策，鑄鉛鐵為錢，商旅出境，無所用之，皆易他貨而去，故能以境內所餘之物易天下百貨，國以富饒。 湖南民不事桑蠶，郁命民輸稅者皆以帛代錢，未幾，民間機杼大盛。
Earlier, when King Yin of Chu took Hunan, he levied no taxes on merchants, and travelers from every direction converged on the region. Hunan had abundant lead and iron. Yin followed army director's aide Gao Yu's plan and cast lead-iron coin. Merchants leaving the border could not use it elsewhere and traded it for other goods, so Chu exchanged its surplus for goods from across the realm and grew rich. The people of Hunan did not raise silkworms. Yu required tax payments in silk cloth instead of coin, and before long weaving flourished throughout the countryside.
32
吳越王鏐遣使者沈□致書，以受玉冊，封吳越國王告於吳。 吳人以其國名與己同，不受書，遣□還。 仍戒境上無得通吳越使者及商旅。
King of Wuyue Qian Liu sent envoy Shen [character missing] with a letter announcing his receipt of the jade book and enfeoffment as King of Wuyue, to inform Wu. Wu refused the letter because its state's name matched their own and sent the envoy back. They also forbade Wuyue envoys and merchants from crossing the border.
33
明宗聖德和武欽孝皇帝上之上
Emperor Mingzong Shengde Hewu Qinxiao, Part One, Upper
34
莊宗光聖神閔孝皇帝下天成元年（ 丙戌，公元九二六年）
Under Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang, Tiancheng year 1 ( bingxu, AD 926)
35
春，正月，庚申，魏王繼岌遣李繼曮、李嚴部送王衍及其宗族百官數千人詣洛陽。
In spring, the first month, on gengshen, Prince of Wei Li Jiji sent Li Jiyong and Li Yan to escort Wang Yan, his clan, and several thousand officials to Luoyang.
36
河中節度使、尚書令李繼麟自恃與帝故舊，且有功，帝待之厚，苦諸伶宦求丐無厭，遂拒不與。 大軍之征蜀也，繼麟閱兵，遣其子令德將之以從。 景進與宦官譖之曰：「繼麟聞大軍起，以為討己，故驚懼，閱兵自衛。」 又曰：「崇韜所以敢倔強於蜀者，與河中陰謀，內外相應故也。」 繼麟聞之懼，欲身入朝以自明，其所親止之，繼麟曰：「郭侍中功高於我。 今事勢將危，吾得見主上，面陳至誠，則讒人獲罪矣。」 癸亥，繼麟入朝。
Hezhong military commissioner and Minister of Works Li Jilin relied on his old ties with the emperor and on his merit; though the emperor treated him generously, he grew weary of endless demands from actors and eunuchs and refused them. When the main army marched against Shu, Jilin reviewed his troops and sent his son Lingde to lead them in the campaign. Jing Jin and the eunuchs slandered him, saying, "Jilin heard the army was marching and thought it was aimed at him, so in alarm he reviewed troops to defend himself." They also said, "Chongtao dares act arrogantly in Shu because he is plotting secretly with Hezhong, coordinating inside and out." Jilin was afraid and wished to go to court in person to clear himself, but his intimates stopped him. Jilin said, "Chief Councillor Guo's merit exceeds mine. Now the situation is turning dangerous. If I can see our lord face to face and speak with full sincerity, the slanderers will be punished." On guihai Jilin came to court.
37
魏王繼岌將發成都，令任圜權知留事，以俟孟知祥。 諸軍部署已定，是日，馬彥珪至，以皇后教示繼岌，繼岌曰：「大軍垂發，彼無釁端，安可為此負心事！ 公輩勿復言。 且主上無敕，獨以皇后教殺招討使，可乎？」 李從襲等泣曰：「既有此跡，萬一崇韜聞之，中塗為變，益不可救矣。」 相與巧陳利害，繼岌不得已從之。 甲子旦，從襲以繼岌之命召崇韜計事，繼岌登樓避之。 崇韜方升階，繼岌從者李環撾碎其首，並殺其子廷誨、廷信。 外人猶未之知。 都統推官饒陽李崧謂繼岌曰：「今行軍三千里外，初無敕旨，擅殺大將，大王奈何行此危事！ 獨不能忍之至洛陽邪？」 繼岌曰：「公言是也，悔之無及。」 崧乃召書吏數人，登樓去梯，矯為敕書，用蠟印宣之，軍中粗定。 崇韜左右皆竄匿，獨掌書記滏陽張礪詣魏王府慟哭久之。 繼岌命任圜代崇韜總軍政。 魏王通謁李廷安獻蜀樂工二百餘人，有嚴旭者，王衍用為蓬州刺史，帝問曰：「汝何以得刺史？」 對曰：「以歌。」 帝使歌而善之，許復故任。
Prince of Wei Li Jiji was about to leave Chengdu. He left Ren Huan in charge of affairs until Meng Zhixiang arrived. The army was ready to march when Ma Yan'gui arrived with the empress's order. Jiji said, "The army is about to depart and he has given no cause—how can we commit this shameful act! Say no more of it. Besides, our lord has issued no edict—can we kill the expedition commissioner on the empress's order alone?" Li Congxi and the others wept and said, "Since suspicion already exists, if Chongtao hears of this and rebels on the road, nothing can save us." They pressed their case artfully, and Jiji, having no choice, agreed. At dawn on jiazi Congxi summoned Chongtao on Jiji's orders to discuss affairs; Jiji went up a tower to avoid the scene. As Chongtao mounted the steps, Jiji's follower Li Huan smashed his skull; his sons Tinghui and Tingxin were killed as well. Those outside still knew nothing. Commander-in-chief's aide Li Song of Raoyang told Jiji, "The army is three thousand li from home with no imperial order, yet you have killed a great general on your own authority—how can Your Highness do this! Could you not have waited until Luoyang?" Jiji said, "You are right. It is too late for regret." Song summoned several clerks, went up the tower and removed the ladder, forged an edict, sealed it with wax, and proclaimed it; the army was roughly calmed. Chongtao's attendants all fled; only his secretary Zhang Li of Fuyang went to the Prince of Wei's residence and wept long. Jiji ordered Ren Huan to take over Chongtao's military and civil duties. The Prince of Wei's reception officer Li Ting'an presented more than two hundred Shu musicians. Among them was Yan Xu, whom Wang Yan had made prefect of Pengzhou. The emperor asked, "How did you become prefect?" He answered, "Through singing." The emperor had him sing, was pleased, and allowed him to resume his former post.
38
戊辰，孟知祥至成都。 時新殺郭崇韜，人情未安，知祥慰撫吏民，犒賜將卒，去留帖然。
On wuchen Meng Zhixiang reached Chengdu. Guo Chongtao had just been killed and the people were uneasy; Zhixiang reassured officials and commoners, rewarded the troops, and all were calmed whether they stayed or left.
39
閩人破陳本，斬之。
The Min forces defeated Chen Ben and beheaded him.
40
契丹主擊女真及勃海，恐唐乘虛襲之，戊寅，遣梅老鞋裡來修好。
The Khitan ruler attacked the Jurchen and Bohai and feared Tang might strike while he was away; on wuyin he sent Meilao Xieli to seek peace.
41
馬彥珪還洛陽，乃下詔暴郭崇韜之罪，並殺其子廷說、廷讓、廷議，於是朝野駭惋，群議紛然，帝使宦者潛察之。 保大節度使睦王存乂，崇韜之婿也； 宦官欲盡去崇韜之黨，言「存乂對諸將攘臂垂泣，為崇韜稱冤，言辭怨望。」 庚辰，幽存乂於第，尋殺之。
When Ma Yan'gui returned to Luoyang, an edict exposed Guo Chongtao's crimes and his sons Tingshuo, Tingrang, and Tingyi were executed as well. Court and countryside were shocked; opinion ran wild, and the emperor had eunuchs watch in secret. Baoda military commissioner Prince of Mu Cunyou was Chongtao's son-in-law; The eunuchs wanted to purge every ally of Guo Chongtao, reporting that Cunyi had stood before the generals wringing his arms and weeping, pleading Chongtao's innocence in language steeped in resentment and grievance." On gengchen, Cunyi was placed under house arrest; before long he was put to death.
42
景進言：「河中人有告變，言李繼麟與郭崇韜謀反； 崇韜死，又與存乂連謀。」 宦官因共勸帝速除之，帝乃徙繼麟為義成節度使，是夜，遣蕃漢馬步使朱守殷以兵圍其第，驅繼麟出徽安門外殺之，復其姓名曰朱友謙。 友謙二子，令德為武信節度使，令錫為忠武節度使； 詔魏王繼岌誅令德於遂州，鄭州刺史王思同誅令錫於許州，河陽節度使李紹奇誅其家人於河中。 紹奇至其家，友謙妻張氏帥家人二百餘口見紹奇曰：「朱氏宗族當死，願無濫及平人。」 乃別其婢僕百人，以其族百口就刑。 張氏又取鐵券以示紹奇曰：「此皇帝去年所賜也，我婦人，不識書，不知其何等語也。」 紹奇亦為之慚。 友謙舊將吏武等七人，時為刺史，皆坐族誅。 時洛中諸軍饑窘，妄為謠言，伶官采之以聞於帝，故郭崇韜、朱友謙皆及於禍。 成德節度使兼中書令李嗣源亦為謠言所屬，帝遣朱守殷察之； 守殷私謂嗣源曰：「令公勳業振主，宜自圖歸籓以遠禍。」 嗣源曰：「吾心不負天地，禍福之來，無所可避，皆委之於命耳。」 時伶宦用事，勳舊人不自保，嗣源危殆者數四，賴宣徽使李紹宏左右營護，以是得全。
Jing Jin reported, "Men from Hezhong have lodged a charge of treason, claiming that Li Jilin conspired with Guo Chongtao to rebel; after Chongtao's death he continued plotting with Cunyi." The eunuchs jointly pressed the emperor to move against him at once. The emperor transferred Jilin to the post of military commissioner of Yicheng, and that very night dispatched Zhu Shouyin, commissioner of Tu and Han cavalry and infantry, with soldiers to surround his residence, drag him beyond the Huian Gate, and execute him—restoring his original name, Zhu Youqian. Youqian's two sons held distant commands—Lingde as military commissioner of Wuxin, Lingshi as military commissioner of Zhongwu; Edicts went out ordering Prince of Wei Ji Ji to kill Lingde at Suizhou, Zhengzhou prefect Wang Sitong to kill Lingshi at Xuzhou, and Heyang military commissioner Li Shaoqi to execute the rest of the family at Hezhong. When Shaoqi reached the household, Youqian's wife Lady Zhang appeared with more than two hundred kin and told him, "The Zhu line deserves death—please do not sweep up innocents in the slaughter." She separated out a hundred servants and attendants, then presented a hundred members of her own clan for execution. Lady Zhang then produced an iron certificate of mercy and showed it to Shaoqi. "The emperor gave us this last year," she said. "I am a woman and cannot read—I have no idea what it says." Even Shaoqi was shamed. Seven of Youqian's former commanders and officials, including Wu, who were then serving as prefects, were all executed together with their entire families. The armies in Luoyang were starving and desperate; wild rumors flew, and the actor-officials gathered them up and fed them to the emperor—thus both Guo Chongtao and Zhu Youqian were destroyed. Li Siyuan, military commissioner of Chengde and concurrent Grand Counselor, was also named in the rumors, and the emperor sent Zhu Shouyin to look into him; Shouyin took Siyuan aside and said, "Your achievements overshadow the throne. You ought to find a way back to your own domain and keep clear of what is coming." Siyuan replied, "My conscience is clear before heaven and earth. When fortune or ruin arrives, there is nowhere to run—I can only leave it to fate." Actor-eunuchs ruled the court; men of old merit could not keep themselves safe. Siyuan was brought to the edge of ruin more than once, and only Li Shaohong of the Palace Directorate, working behind the scenes, saw him through.
43
魏王繼岌留馬步都指揮使陳留李仁罕、馬軍都指揮使東光潘仁嗣、左廂都指揮使趙廷隱、右廂都指揮使浚儀張業、牙內指揮使文水武漳、驍銳指揮使平恩李廷厚戍成都。 甲申，繼岌發成都，命李紹琛帥萬二千人為後軍，行止常差中軍一捨。
Prince of Wei Ji Ji left Li Renhan of Chenliu in command of cavalry and infantry, Pan Rensi of Dongguang in command of the horse corps, Zhao Tingyin over the left wing, Zhang Ye of Junyi over the right wing, Wu Zhang of Wenshui over the inner guard, and Li Tinghou of Ping'en over the crack troops, all to hold Chengdu. On jiashen, Ji Ji marched out of Chengdu, putting Li Shaochen in charge of twelve thousand men as rear guard, always keeping one day's march between his column and the main army.
44
二月，己丑朔，以宣徽南院使李紹宏為樞密使。
In the second month, on the new moon of jichou, Li Shaohong of the southern bureau of the Palace Directorate was made commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs.
45
魏博指揮使楊仁晸，將所部兵戍瓦橋，逾年代歸，至貝州，以鄴都空虛，恐兵至為變，敕留屯貝州。 時天下莫知郭崇韜之罪，民間訛言云：「崇韜殺繼岌，自王於蜀，故族其家。」 朱友謙子建徽為澶州刺史，帝密敕鄴都監軍史彥瓊殺之。 門者白留守王正言曰：「史武德夜半馳馬出城，不言何往。」 又訛言云：「皇后以繼岌之死歸咎於帝，已弒帝矣，故急召彥瓊計事。」 人情愈駭。 楊仁晸部兵皇甫暉與其徒夜博不勝，因人情不安，遂作亂，劫仁晸曰：「主上所以有天下者，吾魏軍力也； 魏軍甲不去體，馬不解鞍者十餘年，今天下已定，天子不念舊勞，更加猜忌。 遠戍逾年，方喜代歸，去家咫尺，不使相見。 今聞皇后弒逆，京師已亂，將士願與公俱歸，仍表聞朝廷。 若天子萬福，興兵致討，以吾魏博兵力足以拒之，安知不更為富貴之資乎？」 仁晸不從，暉殺之； 又劫小校，不從，又殺之。 效節指揮使趙在禮聞亂，衣不及帶，逾垣而走，暉追及，曳其足而下之，示以二首，在禮懼而從之。 亂兵遂奉以為帥，焚掠貝州。 暉，魏州人； 在禮，涿州人也。 詰旦，暉等擁在禮南趣臨清、永濟、館陶，所過剽掠。 壬辰晚，有自貝州來告軍亂將犯鄴都者，都巡檢使孫鐸等亟詣史彥瓊，請授甲乘城為備。 彥瓊疑鐸等有異志，曰：「告者雲今日賊至臨清，計程須六日晚方至，為備未晚。」 孫鐸曰：「賊既作亂，必乘吾未備，晝夜倍道，安肯計程而行！ 請僕射帥眾乘城，鐸募勁兵千人伏於王莽河逆擊之，賊既勢挫，必當離散，然後可撲討也。 必俟其至城下，萬一有奸人為內應，則事危矣。」 彥瓊曰：「但嚴兵守城，何必逆戰！」 是夜，賊前鋒攻北門，弓弩亂髮。 時彥瓊將部兵宿北門樓，聞賊呼聲，即時掠潰。 彥瓊單騎奔洛陽。
Yang Renjing, a Weibo commander, had led his men to garrison Waqiao; his tour of duty ran over a year, and when he finally marched home and reached Beizhou, the court—fearing that an empty Ye capital might spark trouble if his column entered—ordered him to remain encamped at Beizhou. No one in the empire knew what crime Guo Chongtao had committed. Among the people a rumor spread: "Chongtao murdered Ji Ji and crowned himself king in Shu—that is why his entire clan was wiped out." Zhu Youqian's son Jianhui was prefect of Cao; the emperor secretly ordered Shi Yanqiong, military supervisor at the Ye capital, to kill him. A gatekeeper told the acting prefect Wang Zhengyan, "Shi Wude rode out of the city at midnight and would not say where he was bound." Another rumor ran: "The empress blamed the emperor for Ji Ji's death, has already killed him, and has urgently summoned Yanqiong to plan what comes next." Fear spread through the ranks. Huangfu Hui, a soldier in Yang Renjing's command, lost at dice one night with his comrades; sensing the unrest around them, they mutinied, seized Renjing, and declared, "Our lord holds the realm only because of us Wei soldiers; We Wei men have worn armor and slept in our saddles for more than ten years. Now the realm is settled, yet the emperor forgets our old service and trusts us less every day. We were posted far off for more than a year, finally due to rotate home—and now, with our families within reach, we are forbidden even to see them. We hear the empress has murdered the emperor and the capital is in turmoil. The men want to march home with you and still send word to the court. If the emperor lives and sends armies against us, Weibo's strength is enough to hold them off—and who knows? This may yet become our path to fortune." Renjing refused. Hui killed him; then they seized a junior officer; when he too refused, they killed him as well. Zhao Zaili, commander of the Xiaojie guard, heard the uproar and fled over the wall before he could even belt his robe. Hui caught him, pulled him down by the leg, showed him the two severed heads, and Zaili, terrified, went along. The mutineers made him their leader and burned and looted Beizhou. Hui was from Weizhou; Zaili was from Zhuozhou. At daybreak Hui and his men, with Zaili at their head, marched south through Linqing, Yongji, and Guantao, looting every place they touched. Late on renchen, a messenger from Beizhou warned that the mutineers were heading for the Ye capital. Sun Duo, chief patrol commissioner, and others rushed to Shi Yanqiong and begged for arms so they could man the walls. Yanqiong suspected Duo and his men of hidden designs. "The report says the rebels reached Linqing today," he said. "By the usual march they will not arrive until the evening of the sixth day. There is time enough to prepare." Sun Duo replied, "Rebels never keep to a schedule—they will press day and night while we are still unprepared! Let the Vice Director lead the garrison onto the walls. I will raise a thousand picked men and lie in wait at the Wangmang River to hit them before they reach the city. Break their momentum and they will scatter—then we can mop them up. If we wait until they are at the gates and some traitor opens the city from within, everything will be lost." Yanqiong said, "Hold the walls with a strong garrison. Why go out to meet them?" That night the rebel vanguard struck the north gate; arrows and bolts flew in every direction. Yanqiong was billeted with his men on the north gate tower. At the rebels' battle cry his troops broke and ran. Yanqiong galloped alone to Luoyang.
46
癸巳，賊入鄴都，孫鐸等拒戰不勝，亡去。 趙在禮據宮城，署皇甫暉及軍校趙進為馬步都指揮使，縱兵大掠。 進，定州人也。
On guisi the rebels entered the Ye capital. Sun Duo and his men fought but could not hold; they fled. Zhao Zaili took the palace compound, named Huangfu Hui and the army officer Zhao Jin joint commanders of cavalry and infantry, and unleashed his men on a general looting. Jin was from Dingzhou.
47
王正言方據按召吏草奏，無至者，正言怒，其家人曰：「賊已入城，殺掠於市，吏皆逃散，公尚誰呼！」 正言驚曰：「吾初不知也。」 又索馬，不能得，乃帥僚佐步出門謁在禮，再拜請罪。 在禮亦拜，曰：「士座思歸耳，尚書重德，勿自卑屈。」 慰諭遣之。 眾推在禮為魏博留後，具奏其狀。 北京留守張憲家在鄴都，在禮厚撫之，遣使以書誘憲，憲不發封，斬其使以聞。
Wang Zhengyan sat at his desk calling for clerks to draft a memorial, but no one came. He grew angry. His household said, "The rebels are already in the city, killing and looting in the streets—the clerks have all run. Who do you think will answer?" Zhengyan started. "I had no idea." He asked for a horse and could not get one, so he walked out with his staff to call on Zaili and bowed twice to beg forgiveness. Zaili bowed in return. "The men only wanted to go home," he said. "Minister, you are a man of standing—do not abase yourself." He comforted him and let him go. The troops proclaimed Zaili acting military commissioner of Weibo and sent a full report to the court. Zhang Xian, acting prefect of the northern capital, had family in Ye. Zaili treated them well and sent a messenger with a letter to win him over. Xian never broke the seal; he beheaded the messenger and reported what had happened.
48
甲午，以景進為銀青光祿大夫、檢校右散騎常侍兼御吏大夫、上柱國。
On jiawu, Jing Jin was made Silver-Gleam Grandee of Splendid Happiness, acting Right Regular Attendant and concurrent Censor-in-Chief, with the rank Pillar of the State.
49
丙申，史彥瓊至洛陽。 帝問可為大將者於樞密使李紹宏，紹宏復請用李紹欽，帝許之，令條上方略。 紹欽所請偏裨，皆梁舊將，己所善者，帝疑之而止。 皇后曰：「此小事，不足煩大將，紹榮可辦也。」 帝乃命歸德節度使李紹榮將騎三千詣鄴都招撫，亦征諸道兵，備其不服。
On bingshen, Shi Yanqiong arrived in Luoyang. The emperor asked Li Shaohong, commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs, whom to appoint as field commander. Shaohong again recommended Li Shaoqin. The emperor agreed and told him to submit a plan of campaign. The subordinate commanders Shaoqin asked for were all old Liang officers he favored personally. The emperor grew suspicious and dropped the matter. The empress said, "This is a small matter—not worth a full field commander. Shaorong can manage it." The emperor then ordered Li Shaorong, military commissioner of Guidde, to take three thousand cavalry to Ye to offer terms, while also calling up troops from the circuits in case the rebels refused.
50
郭崇韜之死也，李紹琛謂董璋曰：「公復欲呫囁誰門乎？」 璋懼，謝罪。 魏王繼岌軍還至武連，遇敕使，諭以朱友謙已伏誅，令董璋將兵之遂州誅朱令德。 時紹琛將後軍魏城，聞之，以帝不委己殺令德而委璋，大驚。 俄而璋過紹琛軍，不謁。 紹琛怒，乘酒謂諸將曰：「國家南取大梁，西定巴、蜀，皆郭公之謀而吾之戰功也； 至於去逆效順，與國家掎角以破梁，則朱公也。 今朱、郭皆無罪族滅，歸朝之後，行及我矣。 冤哉，天乎！ 奈何！」 紹琛所將多河中兵，河中將焦武等同號哭於軍門曰：「西平王何罪，闔門屠膾！ 我屬歸則與史武等同誅，決不復東矣。」 是日，魏王繼岌至泥溪，紹琛至劍州遣人白繼岌云：「河中將士號哭不止，欲為亂。」 丁酉，紹琛自劍州擁兵西還，自稱西川節度、三川制置等使，移檄成都，稱奉詔代孟知祥，招諭蜀人，三日間眾至五萬。
When Guo Chongtao was killed, Li Shaochen said to Dong Zhang, "Whose door do you plan to crawl back to now?" Zhang, frightened, apologized. Prince of Wei's army had marched back as far as Wulian when an imperial messenger arrived with word that Zhu Youqian had been executed and orders for Dong Zhang to take troops to Suizhou and kill Zhu Lingde. Shaochen was then leading the rear guard at Weicheng. Learning that the emperor had entrusted Lingde's death to Zhang rather than to him, he was deeply shaken. Soon afterward Zhang passed Shaochen's camp without calling on him. Drunk and furious, Shaochen told his officers, "The realm's conquest of Daliang in the south and pacification of Ba and Shu in the west rested on Lord Guo's strategy and my victories in the field; and when it came to turning against the rebels and standing with the throne to break Liang—that was Lord Zhu. Now Zhu and Guo, though innocent, have been wiped out to the last kin. Once we reach the capital, my turn will come. What injustice—heaven help us! What can we do?" Most of Shaochen's men were from Hezhong. Jiao Wu and other Hezhong officers wailed at the camp gate: "What crime did the Prince of Xiping commit, that his entire house was slaughtered! If we march home we will die like Shi Wu and the rest—we will never go east again." That day Prince of Wei reached Nixi. Shaochen reached Jianzhou and sent word to Ji Ji: "The Hezhong men will not stop wailing—they mean to mutiny." On dingyou, Shaochen marched west from Jianzhou at the head of his army, declared himself military commissioner of Xichuan and commissioner for the administration of the Three Rivers, and sent a proclamation to Chengdu claiming imperial orders to replace Meng Zhixiang. Within three days fifty thousand men rallied to him.
51
戊戌，李繼曮至鳳翔，監軍使柴重厚不以符印與之，促令詣闕。
On wuxu, Li Jiyao reached Fengxiang. Military supervisor Chai Zhonghou refused to hand over the seals and credentials and pressed him to continue to the capital.
52
己亥，魏王繼岌至利州，李紹琛遣人斷桔柏津。 繼岌聞之，以任圜為副招討使，將步騎七千，與都指揮使梁漢顒、監軍李延安追討之。
On jihai, Prince of Wei reached Lizhou. Shaochen sent men to destroy the Jiebai crossing. Hearing this, Ji Ji made Ren Yuan deputy pacification commissioner and sent seven thousand foot and horse soldiers under commander-in-chief Liang Hanyong and military supervisor Li Yan'an in pursuit.
53
庚子，邢州左右步直兵趙太等四百人據城自稱安國留後； 詔東北面招討副使李紹真討之。
On gengzi, four hundred infantry guards at Xingzhou, led by Zhao Tai, seized the city and declared themselves acting military commissioners of Anguo; an edict ordered Li Shaozhen, deputy pacification commissioner of the northeast, to suppress them.
54
辛丑，任圜先令別將何建崇擊劍門關，下之。
On xinchou, Ren Yuan first sent detached commander He Jianchong to assault Jianmen Pass and take it.
55
李紹榮至鄴都，攻其南門，遣人以敕招諭之，趙在禮以羊酒犒師，拜於城上曰：「將士思家擅歸，相公誠善為敷奏，得免於死，敢不自新！」 遂以敕遍諭軍士。 史彥瓊戟手大罵曰：「群死賊，城破萬段！」 皇甫暉胃其眾曰：「觀史武德之言，上不赦我矣。」 因聚噪，掠敕書，手壞之，守陴拒戰，紹榮攻之不利，以狀聞，帝怒曰：「克城之日，勿遣□類！」 大發諸軍討之。 壬寅，紹榮退屯澶州。
Li Shaorong reached the Ye capital and assaulted the south gate, then sent men with an imperial edict offering terms. Zhao Zaili sent out sheep and wine to reward the troops and bowed from the wall: "The men came home on their own because they missed their families. If you will truly plead our case so we may live, we dare not fail to mend our ways!" He had the edict read aloud to every soldier. Shi Yanqiong, halberd in hand, shouted curses: "Pack of dead rebels—when this wall falls you will be torn limb from limb!" Huangfu Hui told his men: "Listen to Shi Wude—the emperor will never spare us." The men roared, seized the edict, tore it to pieces, manned the walls, and fought back. Shaorong's assault failed. When he reported what had happened, the emperor raged: "When the city falls, leave none alive!" He mobilized armies from every quarter to crush them. On renyin, Shaorong pulled back and encamped at Cao.
56
甲辰夜，從馬直軍士王溫等五人殺軍使，謀作亂，擒斬之。 從馬直指揮使郭從謙，本優人也，優名郭門高。 帝與梁相拒於得勝，募勇士挑戰，從謙應募，俘斬而還，由是益有寵。 帝選諸軍驍勇者為親軍，分置四指揮，號從馬直，從謙自軍使積功至指揮使。 郭崇韜方用事，從謙以叔父事之，睦王存乂以從謙為假子。 及崇韜、存乂得罪，從謙數以私財饗從馬直諸校，對之流涕，言崇韜之冤。 及王溫作亂，帝戲之曰：「汝既負我附崇韜、存乂，又教王溫反，欲何為也？」 從謙益懼。 既退，陰謂諸校曰：「主上以王溫之故，俟鄴都平定，盡坑若曹。 家之所有宜盡市酒肉，勿為久計也。」 由是親軍皆不自安。
On the night of jiachen, five soldiers of the Personal Cavalry Guard, led by Wang Wen, murdered their army commissioner and plotted mutiny. They were captured and executed. The commander of the Personal Cavalry Guard, Guo Congqian, had begun as an actor; on stage he was known as Guo Mengao. When the emperor faced Liang in stalemate at Desheng, he called for volunteers to challenge the enemy. Congqian stepped forward, returned with prisoners and severed heads, and from that day won ever greater favor. The emperor picked the fiercest men from every army for his personal guard, organized them into four commands called the Personal Cavalry Guard, and Congqian rose from army commissioner through repeated merit to full commander. While Guo Chongtao held power, Congqian treated him as an uncle might be treated; Prince of Mu Cunyi took Congqian as a foster son. After Chongtao and Cunyi fell, Congqian repeatedly spent his own money to feast the officers of the Personal Cavalry Guard, weeping before them and insisting on Chongtao's innocence. When Wang Wen mutinied, the emperor teased him: "You turned against me for Chongtao and Cunyi, and now you put Wang Wen up to rebellion—what are you after?" Congqian grew still more afraid. After he withdrew, he told the officers in secret: "Because of Wang Wen, once Ye is pacified the emperor means to bury every one of you alive. Spend everything you own on wine and meat while you can—do not plan for tomorrow." From that day forward, the emperor's personal guard lived in dread.
57
乙巳，王衍至長安，有詔止之。
On yisi, Wang Yan arrived at Chang'an and was commanded by edict to stop.
58
先是，帝諸弟雖領節度使，皆留京師，但食其俸。 戊申，始命護國節度使永王存霸至河中。 丁未，李紹榮以諸道兵再攻鄴都。 庚戌，裨將楊重霸帥眾數百登城，後無繼者，重霸等皆死。 賊知不赦，堅守無降意。 朝廷患之，日發中使促魏王繼岌東還。 繼岌以中軍精兵皆從任圜討李紹琛，留利州待之，未得還。
Before this, the emperor's younger brothers held military commissioner titles, yet they all stayed in the capital on salary alone. On wushen, he first dispatched Prince Yong Cunba, Huguo military commissioner, to Hezhong. On dingwei, Li Shaorong led armies from every circuit in another assault on the Ye capital. On gengxu, Deputy General Yang Zhongba scaled the walls at the head of several hundred men, but no reinforcements came, and Zhongba and all who followed him were killed. Knowing that mercy was denied them, the rebels dug in and would not yield. The court grew alarmed and sent palace envoys day after day, pressing Prince of Wei Jiji to turn back east. Jiji had committed his best central troops to Ren Huan's campaign against Li Shaochen and was waiting at Lizhou; he could not yet come back.
59
李紹榮討趙在禮久無功，趙太據邢州未下。 滄州軍亂，小校王景戡討定之，因自為留後； 河朔州縣告亂者相繼。 帝欲自征鄴都，宰相、樞密使皆言京師根本，車駕不可輕動，帝曰：「諸將無可使者。」 皆曰：「李嗣源最為勳舊。」 帝心忌嗣源，曰：「吾惜嗣源，欲留宿衛。」 皆曰：「他人無可者。」 忠武節度使張全義亦言：「河朔多事，久則患深，宜令總管進討； 若倚紹榮輩，未見成功之期。」 李紹宏亦屢言之，帝以內外所薦，久乃許之，甲寅，命嗣源將親軍討鄴都。
Li Shaorong had gained nothing after a long pursuit of Zhao Zaili, and Zhao Tai still held Xingzhou unconquered. Troops at Cangzhou mutinied, and a junior officer named Wang Jingkan crushed the revolt and proclaimed himself acting governor; Reports of uprising poured in from prefectures and counties across Hebei. The emperor wished to lead the campaign against Ye in person, but the chief ministers and the Bureau of Military Affairs argued that the capital was the foundation of the realm and that the throne must not stir lightly. The emperor said, "There is no general I can send." They replied as one, "Li Siyuan stands first among the old heroes of the founding." The emperor, who secretly feared Siyuan, said, "I hold Siyuan dear and would keep him at my side as palace guard." They answered, "There is no one else who will serve." Zhang Quanyi, military commissioner of Zhongwu, added, "Hebei is in turmoil; delay will only deepen the wound. The overall commander should be sent to strike at once; If we rely on men like Shaorong, victory remains far off." Li Shaohong urged the same again and again. Pressed by recommendations from within and without, the emperor at last agreed. On jiayin he ordered Siyuan to lead the personal guard against the Ye capital.
60
延州言綏、銀軍亂，剽州城。
Word came from Yanzhou that troops in Sui and Yin had mutinied and raided the prefectural seat.
61
董璋將兵二萬屯綿州，會任圜討李紹琛。 帝遣中使崔延琛至成都，遇紹琛軍，紹之曰：「吾奉詔召孟郎，公若緩兵，自當得蜀。」 既至成都，勸孟知祥為戰守備。 知祥浚壕樹柵，遣馬步都指揮使李仁罕將四萬人，驍銳指揮使李延厚將二千人討紹琛。 延厚集其眾詢之曰：「有少壯勇銳，欲立功求富貴者東！ 衰疾畏懦，厭行陳者西！」 得選兵七百人以行。 是日，任圜軍追及紹琛於漢州，紹琛出兵逆戰； 招討掌書記張礪請伏精兵於後，以贏兵誘之，圜從之，使董璋以東川贏兵先戰而卻。 紹琛輕圜書生，又見其兵贏，極力追之，伏兵發，大破之，斬首數千級。 自是紹琛入漢州，閉城不出。
Dong Zhang encamped at Mianzhou with twenty thousand men to join Ren Huan against Li Shaochen. The emperor sent the palace envoy Cui Yanchen to Chengdu. On the road he met Shaochen's army. Shaochen told him, "I bear an edict to summon Lord Meng. Slow your march, and Shu will fall to you of its own accord." Once he reached Chengdu, he urged Meng Zhixiang to ready the city for war and siege alike. Zhixiang dug moats and raised palisades, then sent Li Renhan, commander of cavalry and infantry, with forty thousand men, and Li Yanhou, commander of the elite vanguard, with two thousand, to crush Shaochen. Yanhou gathered his men and called out, "You who are young, strong, and hungry for glory and reward—step east! You who are old, sick, timid, and sick of the field—step west!" Seven hundred volunteers were chosen, and they marched. That day Ren Huan's army overtook Shaochen at Hanzhou, and Shaochen led his troops out to give battle; Zhang Li, secretary of the expedition, proposed hiding crack troops in the rear and baiting the enemy with a weak front. Ren Huan agreed and sent Dong Zhang forward with expendable eastern-Shu troops to engage and then retreat. Shaochen looked down on Ren Huan as a bookish man, saw only a ragged force before him, and gave chase with everything he had. The ambush rose, shattered his army, and left several thousand dead. After that Shaochen withdrew into Hanzhou, barred the gates, and would not come out.
62
三月，丁已朔，李紹真奏克刑州，擒趙太等。 庚申，紹真引兵至鄴都，營於城西北，以太等徇於鄴都城下而殺之。
In the third month, on the first day dingyi, Li Shaozhen reported that Xingzhou had fallen and that Zhao Tai and his fellows had been taken. On gengshen, Shaozhen marched to the Ye capital and encamped northwest of the walls. He paraded Tai and the others beneath the city and put them to death.
63
辛酉，以威武節度副使王廷翰為威武節度使。
On xinyou, Wang Tinghan, deputy military commissioner of Weiwu, was made full military commissioner of Weiwu.
64
壬戌，李嗣源至鄴都，營於城西南； 甲子，嗣源下令軍中，詰旦攻城。 是夜，從馬直軍士張破敗作亂，帥眾大噪，殺都將，焚營舍。 詰旦，亂兵逼中軍，嗣源帥親軍拒戰，不能敵，亂兵益熾。 嗣源叱而問之曰：「爾曹欲何為？」 對曰：「將士從主上十年，百戰以得天下。 今主上棄恩任威，貝州戍卒思歸，主上不赦，云『克城之後，當盡坑魏博之軍』； 近從馬直數卒喧競，遽欲盡誅其眾。 我輩初無叛心，但畏死耳。 今眾議欲與城中合勢擊退諸道之軍，請主上帝河南，令公帝河北，為軍民之主。」 嗣源泣諭之，不從。 嗣源曰：「爾不用吾言，任爾所為，我自歸京師。」 亂兵拔白刃環之，曰：「此輩虎狼也，不識尊卑，令公去欲何之！」 因擁嗣源及李紹真等入城，城中不受外兵，皇甫暉逆擊張破敗，斬之，外兵皆潰。 趙在禮帥諸校迎拜嗣源，泣謝曰：「將士輩負令公，敢不惟命是聽！」 嗣源詭說在禮曰：「凡舉大事，須藉兵力，今外兵流散無所歸，我為公出收之。」 在禮乃聽嗣源、紹真俱出城，宿魏縣，散兵稍有至者。
On renxu, Li Siyuan arrived at the Ye capital and pitched camp southwest of the walls; On jiazi, Siyuan ordered the army to storm the city at first light. That night Zhang Popo, a soldier of the Personal Cavalry Guard, mutinied. He roused the ranks in uproar, killed the commandant, and set the camp ablaze. At dawn the mutineers closed on headquarters. Siyuan led the personal guard to hold them off but could not, and the rebellion swelled. Siyuan shouted them down and asked, "What is it you want?" They answered, "We have followed the sovereign ten years, through a hundred battles, to win the realm. Now the sovereign casts off kindness and rules by terror. The garrison at Beizhou only wanted to go home, yet he would not pardon them, saying, 'When the city falls, every soldier of Weibo will be buried alive'; Only lately a handful of Personal Cavalry Guard soldiers quarreled, and he meant at once to slaughter the whole company. We did not set out to rebel; we were only afraid to die. Now the men wish to join with the city, drive off the armies of every circuit, and ask the sovereign to rule Henan while we make you emperor of Hebei, lord of soldier and civilian alike." Siyuan wept as he reasoned with them, but they would not heed him. Siyuan said, "If you will not listen, do as you will. I shall return to the capital alone." The mutineers bared their blades and ringed him about, shouting, "These are wolves who know neither rank nor duty! Where do you think you are going!" They then forced Siyuan, Li Shaozhen, and the others into the city. The city would not admit the outside troops. Huangfu Hui turned on Zhang Popo, cut him down, and the outside force broke and fled. Zhao Zaili led the officers forward to bow and welcome Siyuan, weeping as he said, "We have failed you, my lord—we dare not disobey your command!" Siyuan spoke craftily to Zaili: "Every great venture needs soldiers. The outside troops have scattered with nowhere to turn. Let me go out for you and bring them in." Zaili let Siyuan and Shaozhen leave the city together. They lodged at Wei County, and scattered soldiers began to drift in.
65
漢州無城塹，樹木為柵。 乙丑，任圜進攻其柵，縱火焚之，李紹琛引兵出戰於金雁橋，兵敗，與十餘騎奔綿竹，追擒之。 孟知祥自至漢州犒軍，與任圜、董璋置酒高會，引李紹琛檻車至座中，知祥自酌大卮飲之，謂曰：「公已擁節旄，又有平蜀之功，何患不富貴，而求入此檻車邪！」 紹琛曰：「郭侍中佐命功第一，兵不血刃取兩川，一旦無罪族誅； 如紹琛輩安保首領！ 以此不敢歸朝耳。」 魏王繼岌既獲紹琛，乃引兵倍道而東。 孟知祥獲陝虢都指揮使汝陰李肇、河中都指揮使千乘侯弘實，以肇為牙內馬步都指揮使，弘實副之。 蜀中群盜猶未息，知祥擇廉吏使治州縣，蠲除橫賦，安集流散，下寬大之令，與民更始。 遣左廂都指揮使趙廷隱、右廂都指揮使張業將兵分討群盜，悉誅之。
Hanzhou had neither wall nor moat and relied on a timber palisade. On yichou, Ren Huan stormed the palisade and burned it. Li Shaochen marched out to fight at the Golden Goose Bridge, was routed, and fled toward Mianzhu with a dozen riders. Pursuers overtook and captured him. Meng Zhixiang came in person to Hanzhou to feast the army. He raised cups with Ren Huan and Dong Zhang, had Li Shaochen brought before them in a caged cart, poured himself a great bowl and drank, and said, "You already bear a commissioner's banner and won merit in pacifying Shu. What wealth and rank could you lack, that you should choose this cage!" Shaochen said, "Vice Minister Guo stood first in the merit of founding the dynasty and took both river provinces without drawing a blade—yet one morning, though guiltless, his whole clan was slaughtered; How can men like me hope to keep our heads! That is why I dare not return to court." Once Prince of Wei Jiji had taken Shaochen, he marched east at double speed. Meng Zhixiang took Li Zhao of Ruyin, commander of Shan-Guo, and Hou Hongshi of Qiancheng, commander of Hezhong, and made Zhao commander of palace cavalry and infantry with Hongshi as his deputy. Banditry in Shu had not yet subsided. Zhixiang sent honest officials to govern the prefectures and counties, lifted illegal exactions, gathered the displaced, and issued clemency, offering the people a new beginning. He sent Zhao Tingyin, commander of the left wing, and Zhang Ye, commander of the right wing, to hunt down the bandits in separate columns and put them all to death.
66
李嗣源之為亂兵所逼也，李紹榮有眾萬人，營於城南，嗣源遣牙將張虔釗、高行周等七人相繼召之，欲與共誅亂者。 紹榮疑嗣源之詐，留使者，閉壁不應。 及嗣源入鄴都，遂引兵去。 嗣源在魏縣，眾不滿百，又無兵仗； 李紹真所將鎮兵五千，聞嗣源得出，相帥歸之，由是嗣兵稍振。 嗣源泣謂諸將曰：「吾明日當歸籓，上章待罪，聽主上所裁。」 李紹真及中門使安重誨曰：「此策非宜。 公為元帥，不幸為凶人所劫； 李紹榮不戰而退，歸朝必以公藉口。 公若歸籓，則為據地邀君，適足以實讒慝之言耳。 不若星行詣闕，面見天子，庶可自明。」 嗣源曰：「善！」 丁卯，自魏縣南趣相州，遇馬坊使康福，得馬數千匹，始能成軍。 福，蔚州人也。
While Li Siyuan was held by the mutineers, Li Shaorong had ten thousand men camped south of the city. Siyuan sent seven adjutants in turn—among them Zhang Qianzhao and Gao Xingzhou—to summon him, hoping to join in crushing the rebels. Shaorong suspected a trap, held the envoys, closed his camp, and would not answer. Once Siyuan had entered the Ye capital, Shaorong marched away. At Wei County Siyuan had fewer than a hundred followers and no weapons; When the five thousand garrison troops under Li Shaozhen heard that Siyuan had escaped, they rallied to him one after another, and his force slowly recovered. Siyuan wept and told his officers, "Tomorrow I shall return to my fief, submit a memorial of confession, and leave myself to the sovereign's judgment." Li Shaozhen and An Chonghui, commissioner of the Inner Gate, said, "That course will not serve. You were supreme commander and were seized by violent men through no fault of your own; Li Shaorong retreated without a fight. If you return to court, he will surely make you his scapegoat. If you go back to your fief, you will look as though you hold land and defy the throne—and that will only make the slanders seem true. Better to ride at once to the capital, face the Son of Heaven, and make your innocence plain." Siyuan said, "Well said!" On dingmao he pressed south from Wei County toward Xiangzhou, met Kang Fu, commissioner of the horse pastures, gained several thousand mounts, and at last had enough to make an army. Kang Fu was a man of Weizhou.
67
平盧節度使符習將本軍攻鄴都，聞李嗣源軍潰，引兵歸。 至淄州，監軍使楊希望遣兵逆擊之，習懼，復引兵而西。 青州指揮使王公儼攻希望，殺之，因據其城。
Fu Xi, military commissioner of Pinglu, marched his own army against the Ye capital, but when he heard that Li Siyuan's force had broken, he turned back. At Zizhou the army supervisor Yang Xiwang sent troops to block him. Xi took fright and marched west again. Wang Gongyan, commander of Qingzhou, attacked Xiwang, killed him, and seized the city.
68
時近侍為諸道監軍者，皆恃恩與節度使爭權，及鄴都軍變，所在多殺之。 安義監軍楊繼源謀殺節度使孔勍，勍先誘而殺之。 武寧監軍以李紹真從李嗣源，謀殺其元從，據城拒之； 權知留後淳於晏帥諸將先殺之。 晏，登州人也。
Palace favorites serving as army supervisors in the circuits had long used imperial favor to wrest power from the military commissioners. After the Ye capital mutiny, they were killed in place after place. At Anyi the army supervisor Yang Jiyuan plotted to kill Military Commissioner Kong Qiong, but Qiong lured him in first and killed him. At Wuning the army supervisor, angered that Li Shaozhen had gone over to Li Siyuan, plotted to kill Shaozhen's old companions and hold the city against them; Acting governor Chunyu Yan led the generals in killing him first. Chunyu Yan was a man of Dengzhou.
69
戊辰，以軍食不足，敕河南尹豫借夏秋稅； 民不聊生。
On wuchen, with army rations running short, an edict ordered Prefect Yu of Henan to advance against the summer and autumn taxes; The people could barely survive.
70
忠武節度使、尚書令齊王張全義聞李嗣源入鄴都，憂懼不食，辛未，卒於洛陽。
Zhang Quanyi, military commissioner of Zhongwu, Minister of Works, and Prince of Qi, heard that Li Siyuan had entered the Ye capital, sank into dread, and refused food. On xinwei he died at Luoyang.
71
租庸使以倉儲不足，頗朘刻軍糧，軍士流言益甚。 宰相懼，帥百官上表言：「今租庸已竭，內庫有餘，諸軍室家不能相保，儻不賑救，懼有離心。 俟過凶年，其財復集。」 上即欲從之，劉後曰：「吾夫婦君臨萬國，雖藉武功，亦由天命。 命既在天，人如我何！」 宰相又於便殿論之，後屬耳於屏風後，須臾，出妝具及三銀盆、皇幼子三人於外曰：「人言宮中蓄積多，四方貢獻隨以給賜，所餘止此耳，請鬻以贍軍！」 宰相惶懼而退。 李紹榮自鄴都退保衛州，奏李嗣源已叛，與賊合。 嗣源遣使上章自理，一日數輩。 嗣源長子從審為金槍指揮使，帝謂從審曰：「吾深知爾父忠厚，爾往諭朕意，勿使自疑。」 從審至衛州，紹榮囚，欲殺之。 從審曰：「公等既不亮吾父，吾亦不能至父所，請復還宿衛。」 乃釋之。 帝憐從審，賜名繼璟，待之如子。 是後嗣源所奏，皆為紹榮所遏，不得通，嗣源由是疑懼。 石敬瑭曰：「夫事成於果決而敗於猶豫，安有上將與叛卒入賊城，而他日得保無恙乎！ 大梁，天下之要會也，願假三百騎先往取之； 若幸而得之，公宜引大軍亟進，如此始可自全。」 突騎都指揮使康義誠曰：「主上無道，軍民怨怒，公從眾則生，守節必死。」 嗣源乃令安重誨移檄會兵。 義誠，代北胡人也。
The Commissioner of Tax and Corvée, finding the granaries bare, cut the soldiers' rations sharply, and muttering in the ranks grew louder still. The chief ministers were alarmed and led the hundred officials in a memorial: "Tax revenues are spent, yet the inner treasury still holds surplus. Army families cannot keep themselves. Unless we give relief, we fear the troops will turn away. Once the lean year passes, the treasury will fill again." The emperor was ready to agree when Empress Liu said, "We two rule ten thousand states. Our power rests on arms, but our throne rests on Heaven's mandate. If our fate is in Heaven's hands, what can mere men do to us!" The chief ministers debated again in the side hall. The empress listened from behind the screen. Presently she came out with her toilet set, three silver basins, and three young imperial sons and said, "They say the palace is rich. Tribute from every quarter is spent as it arrives. All that remains is this. Sell it, if you will, to feed the army!" The chief ministers withdrew in dread. Li Shaorong fell back from the Ye capital to Weizhou and reported that Li Siyuan had rebelled and joined the enemy. Siyuan sent envoys with memorials pleading his innocence, several times in a single day. Siyuan's eldest son Congshen was commander of the Golden Spear Guard. The emperor told him, "I know your father is steadfast and true. Go tell him my mind, and keep him from doubting himself." Congshen reached Weizhou. Shaorong seized and imprisoned him and meant to kill him. Congshen said, "Since you will not believe in my father, I cannot go to him. Let me return to palace guard duty instead." At that they set him free. The emperor pitied Congshen, gave him the name Jijing, and treated him like his own son. From then on, every memorial Siyuan sent was intercepted by Shaorong and never reached the emperor. Siyuan grew wary and afraid. Shi Jingtang said, "Success comes from bold action and failure from wavering. How can a commanding general who has entered a rebel city at the head of mutineers ever hope to come through unscathed? Daliang is the empire's strategic hub. Give me three hundred horsemen and I will go take it first; If fortune favors us and we take it, you must march the main army at once. Only then can you secure yourself." Kang Yicheng, commander of the vanguard cavalry, said, "The emperor has lost the Way, and soldiers and civilians seethe with anger. Follow the army and you live; cling to loyalty and you die." At that Siyuan ordered An Chonghui to circulate a call to arms. Yicheng was a non-Han from north of Dai.
72
時齊州防禦使李紹虔、泰寧節度使李紹欽、貝州刺史李紹英屯瓦橋，北京右廂馬軍都指揮使安審通屯奉化軍，嗣源皆遣使召之。 紹英，瑕丘人，本姓房，名知溫； 審通，金全之侄也。 嗣源家在真定，虞候將王建立先殺其監軍，由是獲全。 建立，遼州人也。 李從珂自橫水將所部兵由盂縣趣鎮州，與王建立軍合，倍道從嗣源。 嗣源以李紹榮在衛州，謀自白皋濟河，分三百騎使石敬瑭將之前驅，李從珂為殿，於是軍勢大盛。 嗣源從子從璋自鎮州引軍而南，過邢州，邢人奉為留後。
Li Shaoqian, defender of Qizhou; Li Shaoqin, military commissioner of Taining; and Li Shaoying, prefect of Beizhou were then posted at Waqiao, while An Shentong, commander of the Beijing right-wing cavalry, held Fenghua. Siyuan sent envoys to summon them all. Shaoying was from Xiaqiu; born Fang Zhiwen, Shentong was Jin Quan's nephew. Siyuan's family was in Zhending. The adjutant general Wang Jianli killed the army supervisor there first, and thus they escaped harm. Jianli was from Liaozhou. Li Congke marched from Hengshui with his command through Yuxian toward Zhenzhou, linked up with Wang Jianli, and raced to join Siyuan. With Li Shaorong holding Weizhou, Siyuan planned to cross the river at Baigao. He gave Shi Jingtang three hundred horsemen as vanguard and Li Congke the rear guard. His army's strength swelled. Siyuan's nephew Congzhang marched south from Zhenzhou. At Xingzhou the locals hailed him as acting governor.
73
癸酉，詔懷遠指揮使白從暉將騎兵扼河陽橋，帝乃出金帛給賜諸軍，樞密宣徽使及供奉內使景進等皆獻金帛以助給賜。 軍士負物而詬曰：「吾妻子已殍死，得此何為！」 甲戌，李紹榮自衛州至洛陽，帝如鷂店勞之。 紹榮曰：「鄴都亂兵已遣其黨翟建白據博州，欲濟河襲暉、汴，願陛下幸關東招撫之。」 帝從之。
On guiyou the emperor ordered Huaiyuan Commander Bai Conghui to take cavalry and hold Heyang Bridge. He then distributed gold and silk among the armies, and Military Affairs Commissioner and Court Ceremonial Commissioner Jing Jin and others of the inner service contributed gold and silk to help pay the troops. Soldiers loaded with goods cursed aloud: "Our wives and children are already dead of hunger. What good is this to us!" On jiaxu Li Shaorong arrived in Luoyang from Weizhou, and the emperor went to Yaodian to receive and honor him. Shaorong said, "The Ye mutineers have sent their agent Zhai Jianbai to hold Bozhou and plan to cross the river and strike Hui and Bian. I ask that Your Majesty go to the east to win them back." The emperor consented.
74
景進等言於帝曰：「魏王未至，康延孝初平，西南猶未安； 王衍族黨不少，聞車駕東征，恐其為變，不若除之。」 帝乃遣中使向延嗣繼敕往誅之，敕曰：「王衍一行，並從殺戳。」 已印畫，樞密使張居翰覆視，就殿柱揩去「行」字，改為「家」字，由是蜀百官及衍僕役獲免者千餘人。 延嗣至長安，盡殺衍宗族於秦川驛。 衍母徐氏且死，呼曰：「吾兒以一國迎降，不免族誅，信義俱棄，吾知汝行亦受禍矣！」
Jing Jin and others told the emperor, "The Prince of Wei has not returned, Kang Yanxiao has only just been subdued, and the southwest is still unstable; Wang Yan still has many kinsmen and followers. Hearing that you march east, they may rise up. Better to remove them now." The emperor sent palace envoy Xiang Yansi with repeated orders to kill them. The edict ran: "Put to death Wang Yan and all who traveled with him." Once the seal was affixed, Military Affairs Commissioner Zhang Juhun reviewed the order. At a hall pillar he erased "party" and substituted "household." More than a thousand Shu officials and Yan's household staff were spared. When Yansi reached Chang'an he slaughtered Yan's entire clan at Qinchuan Post. Yan's mother Lady Xu, facing death, cried out, "My son surrendered a whole kingdom and still could not escape clan extermination. Faith and honor were both cast away. Your path too will bring disaster upon you!"
75
乙亥，帝發洛陽； 丁丑，次汜水； 戊寅，遣李紹榮將騎兵循河而東。 李嗣源親黨從帝者多亡去； 或勸李繼璟宜早自脫，繼璟終無行意。 帝屢遣繼璟詣嗣源，繼璟固辭，願死於帝前以明赤誠。 帝聞嗣源在黎陽，強遣繼璟渡河召之，道遇李紹榮，紹榮殺之。
On yihai the emperor left Luoyang; On dingchou he encamped at Sishui; On wuyin he sent Li Shaorong east with cavalry along the river. Many of Li Siyuan's relatives and allies traveling with the emperor deserted; Some urged Li Jijing to slip away while he still could, but Jijing refused to consider it. The emperor repeatedly ordered Jijing to go to Siyuan. Jijing steadfastly refused, saying he would rather die before the emperor to prove his loyalty. Hearing Siyuan was at Liyang, the emperor compelled Jijing to cross the river and summon him. On the way he met Li Shaorong, who killed him.
76
吳越王鏐有疾，如衣錦軍，命鎮海、鎮東節度使留後傳瓘監國。 吳徐溫遣使來問疾，左右勸鏐勿見，鏐曰：「溫陰狡，此名問疾，實使之覘我也。」 強出見之。 溫果聚兵欲襲吳越，聞鏐疾瘳而止。 鏐尋還錢塘。
King Qian Liu of Wuyue fell ill and went to Yijin Army. He ordered Fu Zun, acting governor of the Zhenhai and Zhendong circuits, to supervise the realm. Xu Wen of Wu sent envoys to ask after his health. Attendants urged Liu not to see them. Liu said, "Wen is sly and deceitful. This is called a sick visit, but in truth he means to spy on me." He dragged himself out to receive them. Wen had indeed massed troops to strike Wuyue, but halted when he heard Liu had recovered. Soon Liu returned to Qiantang.
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吳以右僕射、同平章事徐知誥為侍中，右僕射嚴可求兼門下侍郎、同平章事。 庚辰，帝發汜水。 辛已，李嗣源至白皋，遇山東上供絹數船，取以賞軍。 安重誨從者爭舟，行營馬步使陶□斬以徇，由是軍中肅然。 □，許州人也。 嗣源濟河，至滑洲，遣人招符習，習與嗣源會於胙城，安審通亦引兵來會。 知汴州孔循遣使奉表西迎帝，亦遣使北輸密款於嗣源，曰：「先至者得之。」 先是，帝遣騎將滿城西方鄴守汴州； 石敬瑭使裨將李瓊以勁兵突入封丘門，敬瑭踵其後，自西門入，遂據其城，西方鄴請降。 敬瑭使人趣嗣源； 壬午，嗣源入大梁。 是日，帝至滎澤東，命龍驤指揮使姚彥溫將三千騎為前軍，曰：「汝曹汴人也，吾入汝境，不欲使它軍前驅，恐擾汝室家。」 厚賜而遣之。 彥溫即以其眾叛歸嗣源，謂嗣源曰：「京師危迫，主上為元行欽所惑，事勢已離，不可復事矣。」 嗣源曰：「汝自不忠，何言之悖也！」 即奪其兵。 指揮使潘環守王村寨，有芻粟數萬，帝遣騎視之，環亦奔大梁。 帝至萬勝鎮，聞嗣源已據大梁，諸軍離叛，神色沮喪，登高歎曰：「吾不濟矣！」 即命旋師，是夜復至汜水。 帝之出關也，扈從兵二萬五千，及還，已失萬餘人，乃留秦州都指揮使張唐以步騎三千守關。 癸未，帝還過罌子谷，道狹，每遇衛士執兵仗者，輒以善言撫之曰：「適報魏王又進西川金銀五十萬，到京當盡給爾曹。」 對曰：「陛下賜已晚矣，人亦不感聖恩！」 帝流涕而已。 又索袍帶賜從官，內庫使張容哥稱頒給已盡，衛士叱容哥曰：「致吾君失社稷，皆此閹豎輩也。」 抽刀逐之； 或救之，獲免。 容哥謂同類曰：「皇后吝財致此，今乃歸咎於吾輩； 事若不測，吾輩萬段，吾不忍待也！」 因赴河死。 甲申，帝至石橋西，置酒悲涕，謂李紹榮等諸將曰：「卿輩事吾以來，急難富貴靡不同之； 今致吾至此，皆無一策以相救乎！」 諸將百餘人，皆截發置地，誓以死報，因相與號泣。 是日晚，入洛城。 李嗣源命石敬瑭將前軍趣汜水收撫散兵，嗣源繼之； 李紹虔、李紹英引兵來會。 丙戌，宰相、樞密使共奉：「魏王西軍將至，車駕宜且控扼汜水，收撫散兵以俟之。」 帝從之，自出上東門閱騎兵，戒以詰旦東行。
Wu made Right Vice Director and Associate Chief Councillor Xu Zhigao a Palace Attendant, and Right Vice Director Yan Keqiu also Vice Director under the Gate and Associate Chief Councillor. On gengchen the emperor marched from Sishui. On xinsi Siyuan reached Baigao, found several tribute boats of Shandong silk, and used them to reward his troops. An Chonghui's men scuffled over the boats. Camp commander Tao [—] executed one as an example, and discipline returned to the ranks. [—] was from Xuzhou. Siyuan crossed the river to Huazhou and summoned Fu Xi. Xi met him at Zuocheng, and An Shentong joined with his troops as well. Kong Xun, prefect of Bianzhou, sent envoys west with a petition welcoming the emperor and envoys north with secret pledges to Siyuan, saying, "Whoever gets here first wins." Earlier the emperor had sent cavalry generals Man Cheng and Xifang Ye to hold Bianzhou; Shi Jingtang sent Li Qiong with elite troops through Fengqiu Gate; Jingtang followed through the west gate and took the city. Xifang Ye surrendered. Jingtang sent word urging Siyuan to hurry; On renwu Siyuan entered Daliang. That day the emperor reached east of Xingze and ordered Dragon Cavalry Commander Yao Yanwen to lead three thousand horsemen as vanguard. He said, "You are men of Bian. I enter your land and do not want other troops going first, for fear your families would be harmed." He gave them rich rewards and dispatched them. Yanwen immediately defected with his men to Siyuan and said, "The capital is in dire straits. The emperor is beguiled by Yuan Xingqin. The realm has come apart. We cannot serve him any longer." Siyuan said, "You are the disloyal one. What nonsense you speak!" At once he seized their command. Commander Pan Huan held Wangji Stockade with tens of thousands of grain and fodder. The emperor sent cavalry to check, but Huan also fled to Daliang. At Wansheng the emperor learned Siyuan held Daliang and his armies were melting away. Despondent, he climbed a height and cried, "I am finished!" He turned the army around and that night was back at Sishui. When the emperor left the pass he had twenty-five thousand escorts; on return more than ten thousand were gone. He left Zhang Tang of Qinzhou with three thousand foot and horse to hold the pass. On guiwei, returning through Yingzi Valley on a narrow road, the emperor spoke kindly to every armed guard he passed: "Word just came that the Prince of Wei sent five hundred thousand in Shu gold and silver. When it reaches the capital you shall have every bit of it." They answered, "Your gifts come too late. No one feels your grace anymore!" The emperor could only weep. He asked again for robes and belts for his attendants. Inner Treasury Commissioner Zhang Rongge said there were none left. Guards cursed Rongge: "Eunuchs like you lost our lord his empire!" They drew swords and chased him down; Others intervened and he escaped. Rongge told his fellows, "The empress's greed brought this on us. Now they blame us; if things turn worse we'll be hacked to pieces. I won't wait for that!" He threw himself into the river and died. On jiashen the emperor reached west of Shiqiao, poured wine, and wept. He said to Li Shaorong and the other generals, "You have served me through peril and prosperity alike; and now you leave me here with not one plan to save me!" More than a hundred officers cut their hair and laid it before him, swearing to die for him, and all wept together. That evening they entered Luoyang. Li Siyuan sent Shi Jingtang ahead toward Sishui to rally stragglers, with Siyuan following; Li Shaoqian and Li Shaoying joined with their forces. On bingxu the chief ministers and military commissioners jointly advised, "The Prince of Wei's western army is coming. Your Majesty should hold Sishui, rally the scattered troops, and wait." The emperor agreed, went through the Upper East Gate to inspect the cavalry, and ordered them east at dawn.