1
【後周紀五】起著雍敦牂，盡屠維協洽，凡二年。
[Later Zhou Records 5] From Zhuanyong Dunzhang through Tuwei Xieqia—two years in all.
2
春，正月，乙酉，廢匡國軍。
In spring, the first month, on yiyou, Emperor Shizong abolished the Kuangguo Army.
3
唐改元中興。
Southern Tang changed the era name to Zhongxing.
4
丁亥，右龍武將軍王漢璋奏克海州。
On dinghai, Right Dragon Martial General Wang Hanzhang reported that Haizhou had been captured.
5
己丑，以侍衛馬軍都指揮使韓令坤權揚州軍府事。
On jichou, Emperor Shizong appointed Palace Cavalry Commander-in-Chief Han Lingkun acting military administrator of Yangzhou.
6
上欲引戰艦自淮入江，阻北神堰，不得渡； 欲鑿楚州西北鸛水以通其道，遣使行視，還言地形不便，計功甚多。 上自往視之，授以規畫，發楚州民夫浚之，旬日而成，用功甚省。 巨艦百艘皆達於江，唐人大驚，以為神。
The emperor wished to lead warships from the Huai into the Yangtze, but the Beishen weir blocked the way and they could not pass through; He planned to cut a channel through the Guan River northwest of Chuzhou to open a passage and sent envoys to survey the route; they returned reporting that the terrain was unsuitable and the project would require enormous labor. The emperor went in person to inspect the site, laid out the plan himself, mobilized corvée labor from Chuzhou to dredge the channel, and completed it in ten days at remarkably little cost in labor. A hundred great warships all reached the Yangtze; the Southern Tang were astonished and took it for a miracle.
7
壬辰，拔靜海軍，始通吳越之路。 先是帝遣左諫議大夫長安尹日就等使吳越，語之曰：「卿今去雖泛海，比還，淮南已平，當陸歸耳。」 已而果然。
On renchen, Zhou forces captured the Jinghai Army post, opening the land route to Wu-Yue for the first time. Earlier the emperor had sent Left Remonstrance Counselor Yin Riujiu of Chang'an and others as envoys to Wu-Yue, telling them, "Though you sail there by sea, by the time you return Huainan will already be pacified and you will travel home overland." And so it indeed came to pass.
8
甲辰，蜀右補闕章九齡見蜀主，言政事不治，由奸佞在朝。 蜀主問奸佞為誰，指李昊、王昭遠以對。 蜀主怒，以九齡為毀斥大臣，貶維州錄事參軍。 周兵攻楚州，逾四旬，唐楚州防禦使張彥卿固守不下。 乙巳，帝自督諸將攻之，宿於城下。 丁未，克之。 彥卿與都監鄭昭業猶帥眾拒戰，矢刃皆盡，彥卿舉繩床以斗而死，所部千餘人，至死無一人降者。
On jiachen, Shu Right Supplementation Censor Zhang Jiuling had an audience with the Shu ruler and charged that government was in disorder because treacherous flatterers held sway at court. When the Shu ruler asked who the flatterers were, Jiuling named Li Hao and Wang Zhaoyuan. The Shu ruler was enraged, judged Jiuling to be slandering senior ministers, and demoted him to Recorder of Wei Prefecture. Zhou troops besieged Chuzhou; for more than forty days Southern Tang defense commissioner Zhang Yanqing held the city and it did not fall. On yisi, Emperor Shizong personally directed the generals in the assault and camped beneath the city walls. On dingwei, the city fell. Yanqing and superintendent Zheng Zhaoye still led their men in resistance until arrows and blades were spent; Yanqing seized a rope bed and fought on until he was killed; of his command of more than a thousand, not one surrendered even at death.
9
高保融遣指揮使魏璘將戰船百艘東下會伐唐，至於鄂州。
Gao Baorong sent commander Wei Lin east with a hundred warships to join the campaign against Southern Tang, reaching Ezhou.
10
庚戌，蜀置永寧軍於果州，以通州隸之。
On gengxu, Later Shu established the Yongning Army at Guozhou and placed Tongzhou under its jurisdiction.
11
唐以天長為雄州，以建武軍使易文贇為刺史。 二月，甲寅，文贇舉城降。
Southern Tang redesignated Tianchang as Xiong Prefecture and appointed Jianwu Army commissioner Yi Wenyun prefect. In the second month, on jiayin, Yi Wenyun surrendered the city with all its defenders.
12
戊午，帝發楚州。 丁卯，至揚州，命韓令坤發丁夫萬餘，築故城之東南隅為小城以治之。
On wuwu, Emperor Shizong marched out from Chuzhou. On dingmao, he reached Yangzhou and ordered Han Lingkun to mobilize more than ten thousand laborers to build a small administrative city in the southeast corner of the old walls.
13
乙亥，黃州刺史司超奏與控鶴右廂都指揮使王審琦攻唐舒州，擒其刺史施仁望。
On yihai, Huangzhou prefect Si Chao reported that he and Right Column Crane-Control Commander Wang Shenqi had attacked Southern Tang Shuzhou and captured prefect Shi Renwang.
14
丙子，建雄節度使真定楊廷璋奏敗北漢兵於隰州城下。 時隰州刺史孫議暴卒，廷璋謂都監、閒廄使李謙溥曰：「今大駕南征，澤州無守將，河東必生心。 若奏請待報，則孤城危矣！」 即牒謙溥權隰州事，謙溥至則修守備。 未幾，北漢兵果至，諸將請速救之。 廷璋曰：「隰州城堅將良，未易克也。」 北漢攻城久不下，廷璋度其疲睏無備，潛與謙溥約，各募死士百餘夜襲其營，北漢兵驚潰，斬首千餘級，北漢兵遂解去。
On bingzi, Jianxiong military governor Yang Tingzhang of Zhending reported defeating Northern Han troops below the walls of Xizhou. At the time Xizhou prefect Sun Yi died suddenly; Tingzhang told superintendent and Inner Stables commissioner Li Qianbo, "With the emperor campaigning south, Ze Prefecture has no defending commander; Hedong is sure to take advantage. If we wait on memorial and reply, this isolated city will be lost!" He immediately issued a dispatch appointing Qianbo acting administrator of Xizhou; on arrival Qianbo set about repairing the defenses. Before long Northern Han troops did arrive, and the generals urged an immediate rescue. Tingzhang said, "Xizhou's walls are strong and its commander capable; they will not take it easily." The Northern Han siege wore on without success; Tingzhang judged them exhausted and unprepared, secretly coordinated with Qianbo, and each side recruited more than a hundred dare-to-die men for a night raid on the enemy camp; the Northern Han were routed in panic, more than a thousand heads were taken, and the besieging army withdrew.
15
三月，壬午朔，帝如泰州。
In the third month, on the renwu new moon, Emperor Shizong went to Taizhou.
16
丁亥，唐大赦，改元交泰。
On dinghai, Southern Tang proclaimed a general amnesty and changed the era name to Jiaotai.
17
唐太弟景遂前後凡十表辭位，且言：「今國危不能扶，請出就籓鎮。 燕王弘冀嫡長有軍功，宜為嗣，謹奉上太弟寶冊。」 齊王景達亦以敗軍辭元帥。 唐主乃立景遂為晉王，加天策上將軍、江南西道兵馬元帥、洪州大督都、太尉、尚書令，以景達為浙西道元帥、潤州大都督。 景達以浙西方用兵，固辭，改撫州大都督。 立弘冀為皇太子，參決庶政。 弘冀為人猜忌嚴刻，景遂左右有未出東宮者，立斥逐之。 其弟安定公從嘉畏之，不敢預事，專以經籍自娛。
Southern Tang Grand Younger Brother Li Jing Sui had submitted ten memorials declining his position, saying, "The state is in peril and I cannot save it; let me withdraw to a frontier fief. Prince of Yan Li Hongji is the eldest legitimate son and has military merit; he should be heir; I respectfully surrender the Grand Younger Brother's seals of office." Prince of Qi Li Jing Da also resigned the post of commander-in-chief, citing his defeat. The Southern Tang ruler then created Jing Sui Prince of Jin with the titles Celestial Stratagem Grand General, Jiangnan West Circuit military commander-in-chief, Hongzhou supreme commander, Grand Commandant, and Director of the Imperial Secretariat, and appointed Jing Da Zhexi Circuit commander-in-chief and great governor of Runzhou. Jing Da firmly declined on the ground that Zhexi was still at war and was reassigned as great governor of Fuzhou instead. Li Hongji was installed as crown prince with authority to participate in routine government. Hongji was suspicious and harsh by nature; any of Jing Sui's attendants who had not yet left the Eastern Palace were immediately expelled. His younger brother Duke of Anding Li Congjia feared him, dared not involve himself in politics, and devoted himself to the classics for solace.
18
辛卯，上如迎鑾鎮，屢至江口，遣水軍擊唐兵，破之。 上聞唐戰艦數百艘泊東水布州，將趣海口扼蘇、杭路，遣殿前都虞候慕容延釗將步騎，右神武統軍宋延渥將水軍，循江而下。 甲午，延釗奏大破唐兵於東水布州。 上遣李重進將兵趣廬州。 唐主聞上在江上，恐遂南渡，又恥降號稱籓，乃遣兵部侍郎陳覺奉表，請傳位於太子弘冀，使聽命於中國。 時淮南惟廬、舒、蘄、黃未下。 丙申，覺至迎鑾，見周兵之盛，白上，請遣人度江取表，獻四州之地，畫江為境，以求息兵，辭指甚哀。 上曰：「朕本興師止取江北，今爾主能舉國內附，朕復何求！」 覺拜謝而退。 丁酉，覺請遣其屬閤門承旨劉承遇如金陵，上賜唐主書，稱「皇帝恭問江南國主」，慰納之。 戊戌，吳越奏遣上直都指揮使、處州刺史邵可遷、秀州刺史路彥銖以戰艦四百艘、士卒萬七千人屯通州南岸。
On xinmao, the emperor went to Yingluan post, repeatedly visited the river mouth, sent the navy against Southern Tang forces, and routed them. Learning that several hundred Southern Tang warships lay at Dongshuibuzhou and intended to seize the estuary and block the route to Suzhou and Hangzhou, he sent Palace Front military inspector Murong Yanzhao with infantry and cavalry and Right Divine Martial army commander Song Yanwo with the navy downriver against them. On jiawu, Yanzhao reported a great victory over Southern Tang forces at Dongshuibuzhou. The emperor sent Li Chongjin with troops toward Luzhou. The Southern Tang ruler, hearing that the emperor was on the Yangtze, feared a crossing south and was ashamed to demote himself to vassal status; he sent Ministry of War vice minister Chen Jue with a memorial offering to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Hongji and submit to the Central Court. At the time in Huainan only Lu, Shu, Qi, and Huang prefectures still held out. On bingshen, Jue reached Yingluan, saw how strong the Zhou forces were, and told the emperor he wished to send someone across the river for the formal memorial, offering the four prefectures and the Yangtze as the new border to halt the war; his plea was deeply sorrowful. The emperor said, "I raised this army only to take the north bank; if your ruler will bring the whole realm to submit, what more could I want!" Jue bowed in thanks and withdrew. On dingyou, Jue asked to send his subordinate Gate Attendant-in-Ordinary Liu Chengyu to Jinling; the emperor sent a letter to the Southern Tang ruler addressed "The Emperor respectfully inquires after the Lord of Jiangnan" and graciously accepted the submission. On wuxu, Wu-Yue reported that Inner-Palace Commander-in-Chief and Chuzhou prefect Shao Keqian and Xiuzhou prefect Lu Yanzhen had been sent with four hundred warships and seventeen thousand troops to encamp on the south bank opposite Tongzhou.
19
唐主復遣劉承遇奉表稱唐國主，請獻江北四州，歲輸貢物數十萬。 於是江北悉平，得州十四，縣六十。
The Southern Tang ruler again sent Liu Chengyu with a memorial styling himself Lord of Tang, offering the four north-bank prefectures and promising annual tribute worth several hundred thousand. Thereupon the entire north bank was pacified; Zhou gained fourteen prefectures and sixty counties.
20
庚子，上賜唐主書，諭以：「緣江諸軍及兩浙、湖南、荊南兵並當罷歸，其廬、蘄、黃三道，亦令斂兵近外。 俟彼將士及家屬皆就道，可遣人召將校以城邑付之。 江中舟艦有須往來者，並令就北岸引之。」 辛丑，陳覺辭行，又賜唐主書，諭以不必傳位於子。
On gengzi, the emperor sent the Southern Tang ruler a letter instructing him: "All armies along the river and the forces from the Two Zhes, Hunan, and Jingnan are to be sent home; for Lu, Qi, and Huang as well, withdraw your troops to the near frontier. When their officers, soldiers, and families are all on the road, you may send envoys to summon the commanders and hand the cities over to them. Any ships that must travel the river are to be guided along the north bank." On xinchou, Chen Jue took his leave; the emperor again wrote the Southern Tang ruler telling him that abdication in favor of his son was unnecessary.
21
壬寅，上自迎鑾復如揚州。
On renyin, the emperor returned from Yingluan to Yangzhou.
22
癸卯，詔吳越、荊南軍又歸本道； 賜錢弘俶犒軍帛三萬匹，高保融一萬匹。
On guimao, an edict ordered the Wu-Yue and Jingnan armies to return to their home circuits; Qian Hongchu was granted thirty thousand bolts of silk to reward his troops, and Gao Baorong ten thousand bolts.
23
甲辰，置保信軍於廬州，以右龍武統軍趙匡贊為節度使。
On jiachen, the Baoxin Army was established at Luzhou with Right Dragon Martial army commander Zhao Kuangzan as its military governor.
24
丙午，唐主遣馮延己獻銀、絹、錢、茶、穀共百萬以犒軍。
On bingwu, the Southern Tang ruler sent Feng Yanji with silver, silk, cash, tea, and grain worth a million in total to reward the Zhou army.
25
己酉，命宋延渥將水軍三千溯江巡警。
On jiyou, Song Yanwo was ordered to lead three thousand naval troops upriver on patrol.
26
庚戌，敕故淮南節度使楊行密、故升府節度使徐溫等墓並量給守戶。 其江南群臣墓在江北者，亦委長吏以時檢校。
On gengxu, an edict ordered appropriate tomb-guard households assigned to the graves of former Huainan military governor Yang Xingmi, former Shengfu military governor Xu Wen, and others. Tombs of Jiangnan ministers lying north of the river were likewise entrusted to local officials for regular upkeep.
27
辛亥，唐主遣其臨汝公徐遼代己來上壽。
On xinhai, the Southern Tang ruler sent Duke of Linru Xu Liao in his place to offer birthday felicitations to the emperor.
28
是月，浚汴口，導河流達於淮，於是江、淮舟楫始通。
That month workers dredged the Bian estuary and channeled the Yellow River to the Huai, opening river traffic between the Yangtze and Huai basins for the first time.
29
夏，四月，乙卯，帝自揚州北還。
In summer, the fourth month, on yimao, Emperor Shizong marched north from Yangzhou.
30
新作太廟成。 庚申，神主入廟。
The newly built Imperial Ancestral Temple was completed. On gengshen, the imperial spirit tablets were installed in the temple.
31
辛酉夜，錢唐城南火，延及內城，官府廬舍幾盡。 壬戌旦，火將及鎮國倉。 吳越王弘俶久疾，自強出救火。 火止，謂左右曰：「吾疾因災而愈。」 眾心稍安。
On the night of xinyou, fire broke out south of Qiantang and spread into the inner city, destroying nearly all government offices and dwellings. At dawn on renxu, the flames were about to reach the Zhenguo state granary. Wu-Yue king Qian Hongchu had long been ill but forced himself out to fight the fire. When the fire died out, he told his attendants, "This disaster has cured my illness." The people's spirits were somewhat reassured.
32
帝之南征也，契丹乘虛入寇。 壬申，帝至大梁，命鎮寧節度使張永德將兵備御北邊。
While Emperor Shizong was on the southern campaign, the Khitan seized the opportunity to raid the border. On renshen, Emperor Shizong reached Daliang and ordered Zhenning military governor Zhang Yongde to lead troops in defense of the northern frontier.
33
五月，辛巳朔，日有食之。
In the fifth month, on the xinsi new moon, there was a solar eclipse.
34
詔賞勞南征士卒及淮南新附之民。
An edict rewarded the troops of the southern campaign and the newly submitted people of Huainan.
35
辛卯，以太祖皇帝領忠武節度使，徙安審琦為平盧節度使。
On xinmao, the late Taizu emperor's post as Zhongwu military governor was filled by appointment, and An Shenqi was transferred to Pinglu military governor.
36
成德節度使郭崇攻契丹東城，拔之，以報其入寇也。
Chengde military governor Guo Chong attacked the Khitan eastern city, captured it, and thereby repaid their raid.
37
唐主避周諱，更名景，下令去帝號，稱國主，凡天子儀制皆有降損，去年號，用周正朔，仍告於太廟。 左僕射、同平章事馮延己罷為太子太傅，門下侍郎、同平章事嚴續罷為少傅、樞密使，兵部侍郎陳覺罷守本官。 初，馮延己以取中原之策說唐主，由是有寵。 延己嘗笑烈祖戢兵為齷齪，曰：「安陸所喪才數千兵，為之輟食咨嗟者旬日，此田舍翁識量耳，安足與成大事！ 豈如今上暴師數萬於外，而擊球宴樂無異平日，真英主也！」 延己與其黨談論，常以天下為己任，更相唱和。 翰林學士常夢錫屢言延己等浮誕，不可信，唐主不聽。 夢錫曰：「奸言似忠，陛下不悟，國必亡矣！」 及臣服於周，延己之黨相與言，有謂周為大朝者，夢錫大笑曰：「諸公常欲致君堯、舜，何意今日自為小朝邪！」 眾默然。
The Southern Tang ruler avoided Zhou taboo names, changed his name to Jing, renounced the imperial title in favor of State Lord, reduced all imperial ritual to vassal scale, dropped his era name, adopted Zhou's calendar, and reported the change at the ancestral temple. Left Vice Director Feng Yanji was demoted to Grand Mentor of the Crown Prince; Vice Director of the Chancellery Yan Xu was demoted to Junior Mentor and Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs; Ministry of War vice minister Chen Jue was stripped of his concurrent posts and left with his original office only. Earlier Feng Yanji had persuaded the Southern Tang ruler with a plan to seize the Central Plains, and thereby won his favor. Yanji had mocked the founding emperor's restraint in war as petty, saying, "He lost only a few thousand men at Anlu yet went without proper meals and sighed over it for ten days—that is a peasant's outlook, unfit for great undertakings! How unlike our present sovereign, who keeps tens of thousands in the field yet plays polo and feasts as on any ordinary day—a true heroic ruler!" Yanji and his faction constantly spoke as though the fate of the empire rested on them, echoing one another's boasts. Hanlin academician Chang Mengxi repeatedly warned that Yanji and his circle were reckless braggarts unworthy of trust; the Southern Tang ruler would not listen. Mengxi said, "Treacherous counsel wears the mask of loyalty; if Your Majesty does not see through it, the state is doomed!" After submission to Zhou, Yanji's faction spoke among themselves, some calling Zhou the great court; Mengxi laughed aloud and said, "You always talked of making our ruler another Yao or Shun—why do you now make yourselves subjects of a petty court!" The company fell silent.
38
自唐主內附，帝止因其使者賜書，未嘗遣使至其國。 己酉，始命太僕卿馮延魯、衛尉少卿鍾謨使於唐，賜以御衣、玉帶等及犒軍帛十萬，並今年《欽天歷》。
Since the Southern Tang ruler submitted, the emperor had communicated only through Tang envoys and had not yet sent an embassy to Jinling. On jiyou, he first dispatched Grand Master of the Stud Feng Yanlu and Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Regalia Zhong Mo as envoys to Southern Tang, bestowing imperial robes, jade belts, one hundred thousand bolts of silk to reward the army, and the current year's Qintian Calendar.
39
劉承遇之還自金陵也，唐主使陳覺白帝，以江南無鹵田，願得海陵鹽監南屬以贍軍。 帝曰：「海陵在江北，難以交居，當別有處分。」 至是，詔歲支鹽三十萬斛以給江南，所俘獲江南士卒，稍稍歸之。
When Liu Chengyu returned from Jinling, the Southern Tang ruler had Chen Jue tell the emperor that Jiangnan lacked salt fields and asked that the southern portion of the Hailing salt commission be assigned to Tang to support his troops. The emperor said, "Hailing lies north of the river and cannot be shared; we will make other arrangements." By then an edict ordered three hundred thousand hu of salt supplied annually to Jiangnan, and captured Southern Tang soldiers were gradually sent home.
40
六月，壬子，昭義節度使李筠奏擊北漢石會關，拔其六寨。 乙卯，晉州奏都監李謙溥擊北漢，破孝義。
In the sixth month, on renzi, Zhaoyi military governor Li Yun reported attacking Northern Han's Shihui Pass and capturing six stockades. On yimao, Jin Prefecture reported that Superintendent Li Qianpu had attacked Northern Han and captured Xiaoyi.
41
高保融遣使勸蜀主稱籓於周，蜀主報以前歲遣胡立致書於周而不答。
Gao Baorong sent envoys urging the ruler of Shu to submit to Zhou as a vassal. The Shu ruler replied that the year before he had dispatched Hu Li with a letter to Zhou, yet received no answer.
42
秋，七月，丙戌，初行《大周刑統》。
In autumn, the seventh month, on bingxu, the Great Zhou Penal Code took effect for the first time.
43
帝欲均田租，丁亥，以元稹《均田圖》遍賜諸道。
Emperor Shizong wished to equalize land rents. On dinghai he had Yuan Zhen's Diagram of Equalized Fields distributed to every circuit.
44
閏月，唐清源節度使兼中書令留從效遣牙將蔡仲贇衣商人服，以絹表置革帶中，間道來稱籓。 唐江西元帥晉王景遂之赴洪州也，以時方用兵，啟求大臣以自副，唐主以樞密副使、工部侍郎李征古為鎮南節度副使。 征古傲很專恣，景遂雖寬厚，久而不能堪，常欲斬征古，自拘於有司，左右諫而止，景遂忽忽不樂。
In the intercalary month, Southern Tang's Qingyuan military governor and concurrent Director of the Secretariat Liu Congxiao sent adjutant Cai Zhongyun disguised as a merchant, a silk petition hidden in his belt, along a back route to offer submission. When Southern Tang's Jiangxi commander Prince of Jin Jing Sui set out for Hongzhou, active campaigning led him to request a senior minister as deputy. The Southern Tang ruler appointed Privy Council Vice Commissioner and Vice Minister of Works Li Zhenggu deputy military governor of Zhennan. Zhenggu was proud, cruel, and overbearing. Though Jing Sui was broad-minded by nature, he could not endure him forever; he repeatedly wanted to kill Zhenggu and turn himself over to the law. His attendants dissuaded him, and Jing Sui sank into gloom.
45
太子弘冀在東宮多不法，唐主怒，嘗以球杖擊之曰：「吾當復召景遂。」 昭慶宮使袁從范從景遂為洪州都押牙，或譖從范之子於景遂，景遂欲殺之，從范由是怨望。 弘冀聞之，密遣從范毒之。 八月，庚辰，景遂擊球渴甚，從范進漿，景遂飲之而卒。 未殯，體已潰。 唐主不之知，贈皇太弟，謚曰文成。
Crown Prince Hongji committed many improprieties in the Eastern Palace. The Southern Tang ruler, furious, once beat him with a ball mallet and said, "I should recall Jing Sui." Zhaoging Palace Commissioner Yuan Congfan had accompanied Jing Sui to Hongzhou as chief military adjutant. Someone denounced Congfan's son to Jing Sui, who sought to kill the boy; Congfan therefore nursed a grievance. Hongji learned of this and secretly dispatched Congfan to poison Jing Sui. In the eighth month, on gengchen, Jing Sui was parched after a game of cuju. Congfan brought him a drink; Jing Sui drank it and died. Even before the funeral rites began, the body had already decomposed. The Southern Tang ruler knew nothing of the affair. He posthumously honored Jing Sui as Imperial Younger Brother with the posthumous name Wen Cheng.
46
辛巳，南漢中宗殂，長子衛王繼興即帝位，更名鋹，改元大寶。 鋹年十六，國事皆決於宦官玉清宮使龔澄樞及女侍中盧瓊仙等，台省官備位而已。
On xinsi, Mid-Emperor of Southern Han died. His eldest son Prince of Wei Jixing took the throne, changed his name to Chang, and proclaimed the era name Dabao. Chang was only sixteen. State affairs were decided by eunuch Jade Purity Palace Commissioner Gong Chenshu, Lady Attendant-in-Chief Lu Qiongxian, and their circle; central government officials were mere figureheads.
47
甲申，唐始置進奏院於大梁。
On jiashen, Southern Tang established a memorial-report office at Daliang for the first time.
48
壬辰，命西上閣門使靈壽曹彬使於吳越，賜吳越王弘俶騎軍鋼甲二百，步軍甲五千及他兵器。 彬事畢亟返，不受饋遺，吳越人以輕舟追與之，至於數四，彬曰：「吾終不受，是竊名也。 盡籍其數，歸而獻之。 帝曰：「曏之奉使者，乞丐無厭，使四方輕朝命，卿能如是，甚善。 然彼以遺卿，卿自取之。」 彬始拜受，悉以散於親識，家無留者。
On renchen, Emperor Shizong appointed Xishang Gemen Commissioner Cao Bin of Lingshou envoy to Wu-Yue, granting King Qian Hongchu two hundred suits of cavalry steel armor, five thousand suits of infantry armor, and other arms. Cao Bin completed his mission and returned at once, refusing all presents. The people of Wu-Yue chased him in swift boats to press gifts upon him, as many as four times. Bin said, "I will never accept them; to do so would be to steal credit for virtue. He recorded every item in full and, on his return, submitted the inventory to the throne. The emperor said, "Envoys of old were shameless beggars, and the realm came to hold the court's commands in contempt. That you conducted yourself as you did is excellent. But since they were given to you, you may keep them." Only then did Bin bow and accept the gifts, then gave them all away to relatives and friends, leaving nothing in his household.
49
辛丑，馮延魯、鍾謨來自唐，唐主手表謝恩，其略曰：「天地之恩厚矣，父母之恩深矣，子不謝父，人何報天！ 惟有赤心，可酬大造。 「又乞比籓方，賜詔書。 又稱：「有情事令鐘謨上奏，乞令早還。」 唐主復令謨白帝，欲傳位太子。 九月，丁巳，以延魯為刑部侍郎、謨為給事中。 己未，先遣謨還，賜書諭以「未可傳位」之意。 唐主復遣吏部尚書、知樞密院殷崇義來賀天清節。
On xinchou, Feng Yanlu and Zhong Mo arrived from Southern Tang. The Southern Tang ruler wrote a personal letter of thanks, saying in part, "The bounty of Heaven and Earth is vast; a parent's love runs deep. If a son does not thank his father, how can a man repay Heaven! Only a loyal heart can repay such boundless grace. " He also asked that, as with other submitted regions, an imperial edict be issued. He also wrote, "There is a matter I wish Zhong Mo to report in person; please allow him to return at once." The Southern Tang ruler also instructed Mo to tell the emperor that he wished to transfer the throne to the Crown Prince. In the ninth month, on dingsi, Feng Yanlu was appointed Vice Minister of Justice and Zhong Mo Supervising Censor. On jiwei, Zhong Mo was sent home first, with an imperial letter explaining that the throne could not yet be transferred. The Southern Tang ruler again dispatched Minister of Personnel and Privy Council overseer Yin Chongyi to offer congratulations on the Tianqing Festival.
50
帝謀伐蜀，冬，十月，己卯，以戶部侍郎高防為西南面水陸制置使，右贊善大夫李玉為判官。 甲午，帝歸馮延魯及左監門衛上將軍許文稹、右千牛衛上將軍邊鎬、衛尉卿周廷構於唐。 唐主以文稹等皆敗軍之俘，棄不復用。
Emperor Shizong planned an expedition against Shu. In winter, the tenth month, on jimao, he appointed Vice Minister of Revenue Gao Fang Southwest Land-and-Water Military Commissioner, with Right Advisor Li Yu as his deputy. On jiawu, the emperor sent Feng Yanlu, Left Gate Guard General Xu Wenzhen, Right Thousand-Ox Guard General Bian Hao, and Chamberlain Zhou Tinggou back to Southern Tang. The Southern Tang ruler considered Xu Wenzhen and the others prisoners from broken armies and abandoned them without further appointment.
51
高保融再遺蜀主書，勸稱臣於周，蜀主集將相議之，李昊曰：「從之則君父之辱，違之則周師必至，諸將能拒周乎？」 諸將皆曰：「以陛下聖明，江山險固，豈可望風屈服！ 秣馬厲兵，正為今日。 臣等請以死衛社稷！」 丁酉，蜀主命昊草書，極言拒絕之。
Gao Baorong again wrote the Shu ruler urging him to submit to Zhou. The Shu ruler convened his generals and ministers to deliberate. Li Hao said, "To obey is to disgrace both ruler and father; to refuse is to invite Zhou's armies. Can our commanders hold Zhou back?" The generals all replied, "With Your Majesty's wisdom and our natural defenses, how could we bow at the first wind of invasion! We have fed the horses and honed the blades for just such a day. We ask only to die defending the realm!" On dingyou, the Shu ruler ordered Li Hao to draft a reply that refused in the strongest terms.
52
詔左散騎常侍須城艾穎等三十四人分行諸州，均定田租。 庚子，詔諸州並鄉村，率以百戶為團，團置耆長三人。 帝留心農事，刻木為耕夫、蠶婦，置之殿庭。 命武勝節度使宋延渥以水軍巡江。
An edict dispatched Left Regular Attendant Ai Ying of Xucheng and thirty-four others to tour the prefectures and equalize land rents. On gengzi, an edict decreed that throughout the prefectures and countryside, every hundred households were to form a tuan, each tuan to have three elders. Emperor Shizong kept farming close to heart; he had wooden figures of a plowman and a silk-reeling woman carved and set up in the palace hall. He ordered Wusheng military governor Song Yanwo to patrol the river with a fleet.
53
高保融奏，聞王師將伐蜀，請以水軍趣三峽，詔褒之。
Gao Baorong reported that he had learned the imperial army was about to strike Shu and asked to advance his fleet toward the Three Gorges. An edict commended him.
54
十一月，庚戌，敕竇儼編集《大周通禮》、《大周正樂》。
In the eleventh month, on gengxu, Dou Yan was commanded to compile the Grand Zhou Comprehensive Rites and Grand Zhou Correct Music.
55
辛亥，南漢葬文武光明孝皇帝於昭陵，廟號中宗。
On xinhai, Southern Han interred Emperor Wen Wu Guang Ming Xiao at Zhaoling, with the temple name Zhongzong.
56
乙丑，唐主復遣禮部侍郎鐘謨入見。
On yichou, the Southern Tang ruler again sent Vice Minister of Rites Zhong Mo to audience with the emperor.
57
李玉至長安，或言「蜀歸安鎮在長安南三百餘里，可襲取也。」 玉信之，牒永興節度使王彥超，索兵二百，彥超以為歸安道阻隘難取，玉曰：「吾自奉密旨。」 彥超不得已與之。 玉將以往，十二月，蜀歸安鎮遏使李承勳據險邀之，斬玉，其眾皆沒。
When Li Yu arrived at Chang'an, someone said, "Shu's Gui'an garrison lies over three hundred li south of Chang'an and could be seized in a sudden strike." Li Yu believed this and wrote to Yongxing military governor Wang Yanchao demanding two hundred men. Yanchao argued that the road to Gui'an was narrow and treacherous and the place hard to seize. Yu replied, "I act on secret imperial orders." Wang Yanchao had no choice but to provide the troops. Li Yu was about to march when, in the twelfth month, Li Chengxun, Later Shu's Gui'an Suppression Commissioner, ambushed him at a narrow defile, cut off his head, and annihilated his entire command.
58
乙酉，蜀主以右衛聖步軍都指使趙崇韜為北面招討使，丙戌，以奉鑾肅衛都指揮使、武信節度使兼中書令孟貽業為昭武、文州都招討使，左衛聖馬軍都指揮使趙思進為東面招討使，山南西道節度使韓保貞為北面都招討使，將兵六萬，分屯要害以備周。
On yiyou, the Later Shu ruler made Zhao Chongtao, director of the Right Guard Sacred Foot Army, Northern Pacification Commissioner. On bingxu he appointed Meng Yiye—Sacred Escort Guard commander-in-chief, Wuxin military governor, and concurrent Central Secretariat director—Grand Pacification Commissioner for Zhaowu and Wen; Zhao Sijin, commander of the Left Guard Sacred Horse Army, Eastern Pacification Commissioner; and Han Baozhen, military governor of Shannan West Circuit, Grand Northern Pacification Commissioner. Sixty thousand men were deployed to hold the critical passes against Later Zhou.
59
丙戌，詔凡諸色課戶及俸戶並勒歸州縣，其幕職、州縣官自今並支俸錢及米麥。
On bingxu, Emperor Shizong issued an edict: every category of tax household and salary household was to be registered once more under county authority, and from that day forward all staff officers and local officials were to receive their pay in cash, grain, and wheat.
60
初，唐太傅兼中書令楚公宋齊丘多樹朋黨，欲以專固朝權，躁進之士爭附之，推獎以為國之元老。 樞密使陳覺、副使李征古恃齊丘之勢，尤驕慢。 及許文稹等敗於紫金山，覺與齊丘、景達自濠州遁歸，國人忷懼。 唐主嘗歎曰：「吾國家一朝至此！」 因泣下。 征古曰：「陛下當治兵以扞敵，涕泣何為！ 豈飲酒過量邪，將乳母不至邪？」 唐主色變，而征古舉止自若。 會司天奏：「天文有變，人主宜避位禳災。」 唐主乃曰：「禍難方殷，吾欲釋去萬機，棲心沖寂，誰可以托國者？」 征古曰：「宋公，造國手也，陛下如厭萬機，何不舉國授之！」 覺曰：「陛下深居禁中，國事皆委宋公，先行後聞，臣等時入侍，談釋、老而已。」 唐主心慍，即命中書舍人豫章陳喬草詔行之。 喬惶恐請見，曰：「陛下一署此詔，臣不復得見矣！」 因極言其不可。 唐主笑曰：「爾亦知其非邪？」 乃止。 由是因晉王出鎮，以征古為之副，覺自周還，亦罷近職。 鐘謨素與李德明善，以德明之死怨齊丘。 及奉使歸唐，言於唐主曰：「齊丘乘國之危，遽謀篡竊，陳覺、李征古為之羽翼，理不可容。」 陳覺之自周還，矯以帝命謂唐主曰：「聞江南連歲拒命，皆宰相嚴續之謀，當為我斬之。」 唐主知覺素與續有隙，固未之信。 鐘謨主覆之於周。 唐主乃因謨覆命，上言：「久拒王師，皆臣愚迷，非續之罪。」 帝聞之，大驚曰：「審如此，則續乃忠臣，朕為天下主，豈教人殺忠臣乎！」 謨還，以白唐主。 唐主欲誅齊丘等，復遣謨入稟於帝。 帝以異國之臣，無所可否。 己亥，唐主命知樞密院殷崇義草詔暴齊丘、覺、征古罪惡，聽齊丘歸九華山舊隱，官爵悉如故； 覺責授國子博士，宣州安置； 征古削奪官爵，賜自盡； 黨與皆不問。 遣使告於周。
Earlier, Southern Tang's Grand Tutor and concurrent Central Secretariat Director, Duke of Chu Song Qiqiu, had built up a wide network of partisans to seize and hold court power for himself. Ambitious men clamored to join his circle and hailed him as the nation's elder pillar. Privy Counselor Chen Jue and Vice Counselor Li Zhenggu, leaning on Qiqiu's influence, were more arrogant and overbearing than anyone. After Xu Wenzhen and the others were routed at Purple Gold Mountain, Chen Jue fled back from Haozhou with Song Qiqiu and Jing Da, and throughout the realm fear spread. The Southern Tang ruler once sighed and said, "Our kingdom has fallen to this in a single morning! He burst into tears. Li Zhenggu said, "Your Majesty should drill the army and meet the enemy—what good are tears! Have you drunk yourself senseless, or has your wet nurse failed to arrive?" The Southern Tang ruler's face darkened, but Li Zhenggu carried on as calmly as if nothing had happened. At that moment the Directorate of Astronomy reported, "The heavens show ominous signs; the sovereign should step aside from the throne to avert disaster." The Southern Tang ruler then said, "Catastrophe is upon us. I wish to lay down the myriad burdens of rule and dwell in quiet emptiness of heart—whom can I entrust with the kingdom?" Li Zhenggu said, "Lord Song built this state with his own hands. If Your Majesty is weary of governing, why not hand the whole realm over to him!" Chen Jue said, "Your Majesty should retire deep into the inner palace and leave all affairs of state to Lord Song—let him act first and report afterward. We would visit from time to time and speak only of Buddhist and Daoist teachings." The Southern Tang ruler, seething within, at once ordered Secretariat Drafter Chen Qiao of Yuzhang to draft an edict putting the plan into effect. Chen Qiao, terrified, begged for an audience and said, "If Your Majesty affixes your seal to this edict, I shall never stand before you again! He argued with all his force that it must not be done. The Southern Tang ruler laughed and said, "So even you know this is wrong? He abandoned the plan. Thereupon the Prince of Jin was sent out to take command of a garrison post, with Li Zhenggu as his deputy; Chen Jue, once he returned from Later Zhou, was likewise stripped of his posts at court. Zhong Mo had long been close to Li Deming, and after Deming's death he nursed a deep grudge against Song Qiqiu. When he returned from his mission to Southern Tang, he told the ruler, "Song Qiqiu exploited the kingdom's crisis to plot a swift usurpation, with Chen Jue and Li Zhenggu as his wings. Such men cannot be allowed to remain." When Chen Jue returned from Later Zhou, he forged an imperial command and told the Southern Tang ruler, "I have heard that Jiangnan's years of defiance were all Chancellor Yan Xu's doing. You should cut off his head on my behalf." The Southern Tang ruler knew Chen Jue had long hated Yan Xu and therefore refused to believe him. Zhong Mo argued the opposite case before Emperor Shizong at the Later Zhou court. The Southern Tang ruler then sent back word through Zhong Mo, reporting upward, "Our long resistance to the imperial army was entirely my own blindness and error—not Yan Xu's crime." Emperor Shizong, hearing this, was deeply shaken and said, "If that is truly so, then Yan Xu is a loyal minister. I am sovereign of all under Heaven—would I command anyone to kill a loyal man!" Zhong Mo returned and reported this to the Southern Tang ruler. The Southern Tang ruler wished to put Song Qiqiu and his faction to death and again dispatched Zhong Mo to seek Emperor Shizong's approval. Emperor Shizong, treating them as the ministers of a foreign realm, neither approved nor refused. On jihai, the Southern Tang ruler ordered Privy Council drafter Yin Chongyi to draft an edict denouncing the crimes of Song Qiqiu, Chen Jue, and Li Zhenggu. Song Qiqiu was permitted to retire to his former hermitage on Mount Jiuhua, his rank and titles unchanged; Chen Jue was demoted to Erudite of the National University and posted to Xuanzhou; Li Zhenggu was stripped of all rank and title and commanded to take his own life; their associates went unpunished. An envoy was dispatched to inform Later Zhou.
61
丙午，蜀以峽路巡檢制置使高彥儔為招討使。
On bingwu, Later Shu appointed Gao Yanchou, Inspector-General of the Gorge Route, Pacification Commissioner.
62
平盧節度使、太師、中書令陳王安審琦僕夫安友進與其嬖妾通，妾恐事洩，與友進謀殺審琦，友進不可，妾曰：「不然，我當反告汝。」 友進懼而從之。
An Shenqi, Prince of Chen, Pinglu military governor, Grand Preceptor, and Central Secretariat director, had a groom named An Youjin who was sleeping with his favorite concubine. Fearing discovery, the concubine plotted with Youjin to kill Shenqi. Youjin refused, and she said, "If you will not, I shall accuse you instead." Terrified, Youjin agreed.
63
春，正月，癸丑，審琦醉熟寢，妾取審琦所枕劍授友進而殺之，仍盡殺侍婢在帳下者以滅口。 後數日，其子守忠始知之，執友進等冎之。
In spring, the first month, on guichou, Shenqi lay drunk in a deep sleep. The concubine took the sword he kept beneath his pillow, handed it to Youjin, and had him kill him. She then slaughtered every maid servant in the tent to silence all witnesses. Days later his son Shouzhong learned what had happened, seized Youjin and his accomplices, and had them dismembered.
64
初，有司將立正仗，宿設樂縣於殿庭，帝觀之，見鐘磬有設而不擊者，問樂工，皆不能對。 乃命竇儼討論古今，考正雅樂。 王樸素音律，帝以樂事詢之，樸上疏，以為：「禮以檢形，樂以治心； 形順於外，心和於內，然而天下不治者未之有也。 是以禮樂修於上，而萬國化於下，聖人之教不肅而成，其政不嚴而治，用此道也。 夫樂生於人心而聲成於物，物聲既成，復能感人之心。 昔者黃帝吹九寸之管，得黃鐘正聲，半之為清聲，倍之為緩聲，三分損益之以生十二律。 十二律旋相為宮以生七調，為一均。 凡十二均，八十四調而大備。 遭秦滅學，歷代治樂者罕能用之。 唐太宗之世，祖孝孫、張文收考正大樂，備八十四調。 安、史之亂，器與工什亡八九； 至於黃巢，蕩盡無遺。 時有太常博士殷盈孫，按《考工記》，鑄鎛鐘十二，編鐘二百四十。 處士蕭承訓校定石磬，今之在縣者是也。 雖有鐘磬之狀，殊無相應之和，其鎛鐘不問音律，但循環而擊，編鐘、編磬徒懸而已。 絲、竹、匏、土僅有七聲，名為黃鐘之宮，其存者九曲。 考之三曲協律，六曲參涉諸調。 蓋樂之廢缺，無甚於今。
Earlier, as officials prepared to mount the formal guard ceremony, musicians had overnight arranged the suspended instruments in the palace courtyard. Emperor Shizong inspected them, noticed bells and chimes in place but unplayed, questioned the musicians, and not one could explain why. He then ordered Dou Yan to study music ancient and modern and restore the orthodox scale. Wang Pu had long mastered pitch and tone. When Emperor Shizong consulted him on music, Pu submitted a memorial arguing, "Rites discipline the outward form; music orders the inner heart; when outward conduct is orderly and inward disposition is at peace, no realm has ever failed to find good order. When rites and music are perfected above, the myriad states are transformed below. The sage's teaching takes hold without severity; his governance prevails without harshness—such is the Way. Music arises from the human heart, and sound takes shape through instruments. Once those sounds are formed, they in turn stir the heart anew. In antiquity the Yellow Emperor blew a nine-inch pipe and drew forth the standard tone of the Yellow Bell. Halving it yielded the clear tone; doubling it yielded the slow tone. By the method of subtracting and adding a third, he derived the twelve pitches. The twelve pitches, each in turn serving as tonal center, give rise to seven modes—together forming one key. Twelve keys in all, eighty-four modes—the system stood complete. After Qin burned the books and broke the tradition of learning, generation after generation of music restorers could scarcely put the full system to use. Under Emperor Taizong of Tang, Zu Xiaosun and Zhang Wenshou restored the great music and brought the full complement of eighty-four modes to completion. The An Lushan–Shi Siming rebellion destroyed nine instruments and craftsmen in ten; By Huang Chao's day the tradition had been swept clean—nothing remained. In those days Grand Music Academician Yin Yingsun, following the Artificers' Record, cast twelve bell-chimes and two hundred forty serial bells. The recluse Xiao Chengxun calibrated the stone chimes; those now in the prefecture are his work. Bells and chimes kept their outward shape, but harmony was gone. The bell-chimes ignored pitch entirely and were merely struck in rotation; serial bells and stone chimes hung unused. String, bamboo, gourd, and clay instruments produced only seven tones in what was called the Yellow Bell key; nine melodies survived. On review, three melodies held true to pitch; six drifted across the modes. Never had music fallen so far into ruin as in our own day.
65
「陛下武功既著，垂意禮樂，以臣嘗學律呂，宣示古今樂錄，命臣討論。 臣謹如古法，以秬黍定尺，長九寸徑三分為黃鐘之管，與今黃鐘之聲相應，因而推之，得十二律。 以為眾管互吹，用聲不便，乃作律准，十有三弦，其長九尺，皆應黃鐘之聲，以次設柱，為十一律，及黃鐘清聲，旋用七律以為一均。 為均之主者，宮也，征、商、羽、角、變宮、變徵次焉。 發其均主之聲，歸於本音之律，迭應不亂，乃成其調，凡八十一調。 此法久絕，出臣獨見，乞集百官校其得失。」 詔從之，百官皆以為然，乃行之。
"Your Majesty's martial glory stands established, and you now turn to rites and music. Knowing that I have studied pitch and tone, you laid before me the music records of antiquity and the present and charged me to investigate them. I have followed the ancient method: black millet grains fix the standard foot; a pipe nine inches long and three tenths across gives the Yellow Bell tone, matching the Yellow Bell pitch of today. From that I derived the twelve pitches. Because blowing many pipes in alternation is unwieldy, I devised a pitch standard of thirteen strings, each nine feet long, all tuned to the Yellow Bell. Posts set in sequence represent the eleven pitches plus the Yellow Bell clear tone; seven pitches in rotation form one key. The gong tone governs each key; zhi, shang, yu, jue, sharp gong, and sharp zhi follow in turn. From the key's governing tone, returning each tone to its root pitch, the modes answer one another without confusion—eighty-one modes in all. This method has lain dead for ages; it springs from insight I alone possess. I beg that officials be assembled to test its merits and flaws. An edict approved it. All the officials agreed, and the new system was put into practice.
66
唐宋齊丘至九華山，唐主命鎖其第，穴牆給飲食。 齊丘歎曰：「吾昔獻謀幽讓皇帝族於泰州，宜其及此！」 乃縊而死。 謚曰丑繆。
Song Qiqiu of Southern Tang reached Mount Jiuhua. The Southern Tang ruler had his house sealed and provisions passed through a hole cut in the wall. Qiqiu sighed and said, "I once urged that the abdicated emperor be quietly exiled to Taizhou—is it any wonder I have come to this! He hanged himself. He was posthumously titled Chou Miu—Ugly and Erroneous.
67
初，翰林學士常夢錫知宣政院，參預機政，深疾齊丘之黨，數言於唐主曰：「不去此屬，國必危亡。」 與馮延己、魏岑之徒日有爭論。 久之，罷宣政院，夢錫鬱鬱不得志，不復預事，日縱酒成疾而卒。 及齊丘死，唐主曰：「常夢錫平生欲殺齊丘，恨不使見之！」 贈夢錫左僕射。
Earlier, Hanlin academician Chang Mengxi had directed the Xuanzheng Court and taken part in confidential policy. He loathed Qiqiu's faction and repeatedly told the Southern Tang ruler, "Unless these men are removed, the realm will perish." He quarreled daily with Feng Yanji, Wei Cen, and their cohort. In time the Xuanzheng Court was abolished. Mengxi, thwarted and bitter, withdrew from affairs, drank himself sick day by day, and died. When Qiqiu died, the Southern Tang ruler said, "Chang Mengxi spent his life wishing to kill Qiqiu—what a pity he did not live to see it! Mengxi was posthumously promoted to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs.
68
二月，丙子朔，命王樸如河陰按行河堤，立斗門於汴口。 壬午，命侍衛都指揮使韓通、宣徽南院使吳廷祚，發徐、宿、宋、單等州丁夫數萬浚汴水。 甲申，命馬軍都指揮使韓令坤自大梁城東導汴水入於蔡水，以通陳、穎之漕，命步軍都指揮使袁彥浚五丈渠東過曹、濟、梁山泊，以通青、鄆之漕，發畿內及滑、亳丁夫數千以供其役。
In the second month, on the bingzi new moon, Emperor Shizong sent Wang Pu to Heyin to inspect the river dikes and to set sluice gates at the Bian Estuary. On renwu he ordered Palace Guard commander Han Tong and Xuanhui Southern Court commissioner Wu Tingzuo to draft tens of thousands of corvée laborers from Xu, Su, Song, Shan, and other prefectures to dredge the Bian River. On jiashen he ordered Cavalry Army commander Han Lingkun to channel the Bian River east from Daliang into the Cai River, opening transport to Chen and Ying; ordered Infantry Army commander Yuan Yan to dredge the Wuzhang Canal east through Cao, Ji, and Liangshan Marsh, opening transport to Qing and Yun; and drafted thousands of corvée laborers from the capital region, Hua, and Bo for the works.
69
丁亥，開封府奏田稅舊一十萬二千餘頃，今按行得羨田四萬二千餘頃，敕減三萬八千頃。 諸州行田使還，所奏羨田，減之仿此。
On dinghai Kaifeng Prefecture reported that registered taxable fields had totaled a hundred and two thousand-odd qing; a fresh survey found forty-two thousand-odd qing of surplus fields on the rolls. An edict cut the surplus by thirty-eight thousand qing. When field-survey envoys returned from the prefectures, surplus lands they reported were trimmed by the same rule.
70
淮南饑，上命以米貸之。 或曰：「民貧，恐不能償。」 上曰：「民吾子也，安有子倒懸而父不為之解哉！ 安在責其必償也！」
Huainan was stricken with famine. Emperor Shizong ordered grain distributed on loan. Some said, "The people are impoverished—they may not be able to repay." Emperor Shizong said, "The people are my children. Would a father refuse to save a child hanging upside down? Why demand repayment at all!1
71
庚申，樞密使王樸卒。 上臨其喪，以玉鉞卓地，慟哭數四，不能自止。 樸性剛而銳敏，智略過人，上以是惜之。
On gengshen Privy Council commissioner Wang Pu died. Emperor Shizong attended the funeral, struck the jade ceremonial axe on the ground, and wept again and again, unable to stop. Pu was hard by nature yet keenly brilliant, his counsel surpassing other men's—Emperor Shizong treasured him for it.
72
甲子，詔以北鄙未復，將幸滄州，命義武節度使孫行友扞西山路，以宣徽南院使吳廷祚權東京留守、判開封府事，三司使張美權大內都部署。 丁卯，命侍衛親軍都虞侯韓通等將水陸軍先發。 甲戌，上發大梁。
On jiazi an edict announced that, with the northern frontier still unrestored, Emperor Shizong would travel to Cangzhou. Sun Xingyou, Yiwu military governor, was to hold the western mountain route; Wu Tingzuo was named acting Eastern Capital regent and Kaifeng prefect; Zhang Mei, Three Departments commissioner, acting commander of the Grand Inner Palace deployment. On dingmao he ordered Palace Guard deputy commander Han Tong and others to lead the land and river forces forward. On jiaxu Emperor Shizong marched out from Daliang.
73
夏，四月，庚寅，韓通奏自滄州治水道入契丹境，柵於乾寧軍南，補壞防，開游口三十六，遂通瀛、莫。
In summer, the fourth month, on gengyin, Han Tong reported that from Cangzhou he had opened a waterway into Khitan territory, fortified south of Qianning Army, patched broken levees, cut thirty-six drainage channels, and thereby linked Ying and Mo.
74
辛卯，上至滄州，即日帥步騎數萬發滄州，直趨契丹之境。 河北州縣非車駕所過，民間皆不之知。 壬辰，上至乾寧軍，契丹寧州刺史王洪舉城降。
On xinmao Emperor Shizong reached Cangzhou and the same day led tens of thousands of foot and horse out of the city, driving straight into Khitan lands. In Hebei towns and counties the imperial train did not pass, the people knew nothing of the campaign. On renchen Emperor Shizong reached Qianning Army. Wang Hong, Khitan prefect of Ningzhou, surrendered the city.
75
乙未，大治水軍，分命諸將水陸俱下，以韓通為陸路都部署，太祖皇帝為水路都部署。 丁酉，上御龍舟沿流而北，舳艫相連數十里。 己亥，至獨流口，溯流而西。 辛丑，至益津關，契丹守將終廷暉以城降。 自是以西，水路漸隘，不能勝巨艦，乃捨之。 壬寅，上登陸而西，宿於野次，侍衛之士不及一旅，從官皆恐懼。 胡騎連群出其左右，不敢逼。
On yiwei he greatly strengthened the river fleet and ordered his generals to advance together by land and water—Han Tong as land-route supreme commander, and Taizu Emperor as water-route supreme commander. On dingyou Emperor Shizong boarded the imperial dragon barge and sailed north; the fleet stretched bow to stern for tens of li. On jihai he reached Duliukou and turned upstream to the west. On xinchou he reached Yijin Pass. Zhong Tinghui, the Khitan garrison commander, surrendered the city. From there westward the waterways grew ever shallower, too narrow for the great warships, and they were left behind. On renyin Emperor Shizong disembarked and marched west, bivouacking in the open country. His escort amounted to less than five hundred men, and every official in his train was terrified. Bands of Khitan horsemen rode out on either flank, yet none dared close in.
76
癸卯，太祖皇帝先至瓦橋關，契丹守將姚內斌舉城降，上入瓦橋關。 內斌，平州人也。
On guimao the future Song Taizu, Zhao Kuangyin, reached Waqiao Pass ahead of the main force. Yao Neibin, the Khitan commander there, surrendered the city, and Emperor Shizong entered the pass. Neibin was from Ping Prefecture.
77
甲辰，契丹莫州刺史劉楚信舉城降。 正月，乙巳朔，侍衛親軍都揮使、天平節度使李重進等始引兵繼至，契丹瀛州刺史高彥暉舉城降。 彥暉，薊州人也。 於是關南悉平。
On jiachen Liu Chuxin, Khitan prefect of Mo, surrendered his city. In the first month, on the yisi new moon, Li Chongjin, commander-in-chief of the Personal Guard and military governor of Tianping, at last arrived with his troops. Gao Yanhui, Khitan prefect of Ying, surrendered his city as well. Yanhui was a native of Ji Prefecture. Thus the entire Guannan region was secured.
78
丙午，宴諸將於行宮，議取幽州。 諸將以為：「陛下離京四十二日，兵不血刃，取燕南之地，此不世之功也，今虜騎皆聚幽州之北，未宜深入。」 上不悅。 是日，趣先鋒都指揮使劉重進先發，據固安。 上自至安陽水，命作橋，會日暮，還宿瓦橋，是日，上不豫而止。 契丹主遣使者日馳七百里詣晉陽，命北漢主發兵撓周邊，聞上南歸，乃罷兵。
On bingwu he held a banquet for his generals at the field palace and debated the capture of You Prefecture. The generals argued, "Your Majesty has been absent from the capital forty-two days. Without drawing a blade you have taken all the lands south of Yan—an achievement without parallel in any age. The enemy cavalry are massed north of You Prefecture now; a deeper thrust would be unwise. The emperor was displeased. That same day he ordered Vanguard Commander Liu Chongjin to march out ahead and occupy Gu'an. The emperor went in person to the Anyang River and ordered a bridge built, but dusk came and he returned to Waqiao to lodge. That day illness overtook him, and the advance halted. The Khitan khan sent envoys galloping seven hundred li a day to Jinyang, ordering the Northern Han ruler to raid Zhou's frontiers. When word came that the emperor was heading south, the operation was called off.
79
戊申，孫行友奏拔易州，擒契丹刺史李在欽，獻之，斬於軍市。
On wushen Sun Xingyou reported the capture of Yi Prefecture and the taking of Khitan prefect Li Zaiqin, who was presented to the emperor and beheaded in the army market.
80
己酉，以瓦橋關為雄州，割容城、歸義二縣隸之。 以益津關為霸州，割文安、大城二縣隸之。 發濱、棣丁夫數千城霸州，命韓通董其役。
On jiyou Waqiao Pass was established as Xiong Prefecture, with Rongcheng and Guiyi counties placed under its administration. Yijin Pass became Ba Prefecture, administering Wen'an and Dacheng counties. Several thousand conscript laborers from Bin and Di were mobilized to fortify Ba Prefecture under Han Tong's supervision.
81
庚戌，命李重進將兵出土門，擊北漢。 辛亥，以侍衛馬步都指揮使韓令坤為霸州都部署，義成節度留後陳思讓為雄州都部署，各將部兵以戍之。 壬子，上自雄州南還。 己巳，李重進奏敗北漢兵於北井，斬首二千餘級。 甲戌，帝至大梁。
On gengxu Li Chongjin was ordered to lead an army out through Tumen Pass against Northern Han. On xinhai Han Lingkun, commander-in-chief of palace cavalry and infantry, was appointed military administrator of Ba Prefecture, and Chen Sirang, acting administrator of Yicheng, was made military administrator of Xiong Prefecture; each was to garrison his post with his troops. On renzi the emperor marched south from Xiong Prefecture. On jisi Li Chongjin reported a victory over Northern Han forces at Beijing, with more than two thousand enemy heads taken. On jiaxu Emperor Shizong arrived at Daliang.
82
六月，乙亥朔，昭義節度使李筠奏擊北漢，拔遼州，獲其刺史張丕。 丙子，鄭州奏河決原武，命宣徽南院使吳延祚發近縣二萬餘夫塞之。
On the first day of the sixth month, yihai, Zhaoyi military governor Li Jun reported a strike against Northern Han: Liao Prefecture was taken and its prefect Zhang Pi captured. On bingzi Zheng Prefecture reported a breach of the Yellow River at Yuanwu. Wu Yanzuo, commissioner of the Southern Court of the Palace Secretariat, was ordered to mobilize more than twenty thousand laborers from neighboring counties to stem the flood.
83
唐清源節度使留從效遣使入貢，請置進奏院於京師，直隸中朝。 戊寅，詔報以「江南近服，方務綏懷，卿久奉金陵，未可改圖。 若置邸上都，與彼抗衡，受而有之，罪在於朕。 卿遠修職貢，足表忠勤，勉事舊君，且宜如故。 如此，則於卿篤始終之義，於朕盡柔遠之宜，惟乃通方，諒達予意，」唐主遣其子紀公從善與鐘謨俱入負，上問謨曰：「江南亦治兵，修守備乎？」 對曰：「既臣事大國，不敢復爾。」 上曰：「不然，曏時則為仇敵，今日則為一家，吾與汝國大義已定，保無它虞。 然人生難期，至於後世，則事不可知。 歸語汝主：可及吾時完城郭，繕甲兵，據守要害，為子孫計。」 謨歸，以告唐主。 唐主乃城金陵，凡諸州城之不完者葺之，戍兵少者益之。
Liu Congxiao, Southern Tang military governor of Qingyuan, sent tribute envoys asking to establish a memorial office in the capital and come directly under the central court's authority. On wuyin an edict answered: "The south has only lately submitted, and our task is to cherish and reassure it. You have long served Jinling—you must not change your course. If I were to establish your office in the capital, pit you against them, and then take you under my wing, the fault would be mine alone. Your distant tribute and diligent service already testify to your loyalty. Continue to serve your liege as before, and let things stand as they are. Thus you would honor constancy to the end, and I would fulfill the duty of cherishing the distant—only such accommodation suits us both; I trust you understand my intent." The Southern Tang ruler later sent his son Prince Congshan and Zhong Mo to court for an audience. The emperor asked Zhong Mo, "Does Jiangnan still drill troops and strengthen its defenses? Zhong Mo replied, "Having submitted to the great state, we would never dare do such a thing again. Emperor Shizong said, "Not so. Yesterday we were foes; today we are kin. The covenant between our states is settled—you need have no other worry. Yet no man can see what lies ahead, and in generations yet to come, nothing is certain. Go back and tell your lord: while I yet live, let him complete his walls, sharpen his arms, and hold every strategic point—for the sake of those who come after. Zhong Mo returned and relayed all this to the Southern Tang ruler. The Southern Tang ruler then fortified Jinling, repaired every deficient prefectural wall, and reinforced every understrength garrison.
84
臣光曰：或問臣：五代帝王，唐莊宗、周世宗皆稱英武，二主孰賢？ 臣應之曰：夫天子所以統治萬國，討其不服，撫其微弱，行其號令，壹其法度，敦明信義，以兼愛兆民者也。 莊宗既滅梁，海內震動，湖南馬氏遣子希范入貢，莊宗曰：「比聞馬氏之業，終為高郁所奪。 今有兒如此，郁豈能得之哉？」 郁，馬氏之良佐也。 希范兄希聲聞莊宗言，卒矯其父命而殺之，此乃市道商賈之所為，豈帝王之體哉！ 蓋莊宗善戰者也，故能以弱晉勝強梁，既得之，曾不數年，外內離叛，置身無所。 誠由知用兵之術，不知為天下之道故也。 世宗以信令御群臣，以正義責諸國，王環以不降受賞，劉仁贍以堅守蒙褒，嚴續以盡忠獲存，蜀兵以反覆就誅，馮道以失節被棄，張美以私恩見疏。 江南未服，則親犯矢石，期於必克，既服，則愛之如子，推誠盡言，為之遠慮。 其宏規大度，豈得與莊宗同日語哉！ 《書》曰：「無偏無黨，王道蕩蕩。」 又曰：「大邦畏其力，小邦懷其德。」 世宗近之矣！
Sima Guang observes: Once I was asked, "Among the emperors of the Five Dynasties, Tang's Zhuangzong and Zhou's Shizong are both hailed as heroic and martial—which of the two was the greater ruler?" I answered thus: The Son of Heaven exists to govern the myriad realms—to chastise the rebellious, shelter the weak, give force to his commands, unify the laws, and bind the people in trust and righteousness, loving all beneath Heaven as one. When Zhuangzong overthrew the Liang, the realm quaked. The Ma clan of Hunan sent Ma Xifan to pay tribute. Zhuangzong remarked, "I have heard lately that the Ma family's legacy will one day fall to Gao Yu. With a son like this, how could Gao Yu ever wrest it away? Gao Yu had been a trusted counselor to the Mas. Ma Xifan's elder brother Xisheng, overhearing Zhuangzong's remark, forged his father's command and had Gao Yu killed. Such was the cunning of a market huckster—not the conduct of a true sovereign! Zhuangzong was a master of war—that was how a weaker Jin brought down mighty Liang. Yet once he held the throne, within a few short years rebellion rose within and without, and he found nowhere to stand. He knew the art of arms but not the Way of holding the realm—that was the whole of it. Shizong governed his ministers through trust and command, and held the realm to the standard of righteousness. Wang Huan was rewarded for refusing to yield; Liu Renshan was honored for holding firm; Yan Xu was spared for unwavering loyalty; Shu soldiers were put to death for their double-dealing; Feng Dao was cast aside for his broken integrity; Zhang Mei was distanced for trafficking in private favor. While Jiangnan still resisted, he took the field in person beneath flying arrows, bent on conquest; once it submitted, he cherished it as a father cherishes a son, spoke with unreserved sincerity, and counseled for its distant future. Such breadth of vision and largeness of heart—how can Zhuangzong even be named in the same breath! The Book of Documents says: "Without partiality, without faction—the King's Way runs broad and clear. And again it says: "The great states stand in awe of his strength; the small states cherish his virtue. Shizong came close to this!
85
辛巳，建雄節度使楊廷璋奏出北漢，降堡寨一十三。
On xinsi, Jianxiong military governor Yang Tingzhang reported that he had campaigned against Northern Han and captured thirteen fortified strongholds.
86
癸未，立皇后符氏，宣懿皇后之女弟也。
On guiwei, Empress Fu was enthroned; she was the younger sister of Empress Xuanyi.
87
立皇子宗訓為梁王，領左衛上將軍，宗讓為燕王，領左驍衛上將軍。
Prince Zongxun was made Prince of Liang and named General-in-chief of the Left Guard; Zongrang was made Prince of Yan and named General-in-chief of the Left Brave Cavalry.
88
上欲相樞密使魏仁浦，議者以仁浦不由科第，不可為相。 上曰：「自古用文武才略為輔佐，豈盡由科第邪！」 己丑，加王溥門下侍郎，與范質皆參知樞密院事。 以仁浦為中書侍郎、同平章事，樞密使如故。 仁浦雖處權要而能謙謹，上性嚴急，近職有忤旨者，仁浦多引罪歸己以救之，所全活什七八。 故雖起刀筆吏，致位宰相，時人不以為忝。 又以宣徽南院使吳延祚為左驍衛上將軍，充樞密使。 加歸德節度使、侍衛親軍都虞候韓通、鎮寧節度使兼殿前都點檢張永德並同平章事，仍以通充侍衛親軍副都指揮使； 以太祖皇帝兼殿前都點檢。
The emperor meant to appoint Palace Secretariat commissioner Wei Renpu chancellor, but critics argued that because Renpu had not risen through the examination track, he was unfit for the post. The emperor said, "Since antiquity rulers have drawn on civil and military talent for their aides—must every one of them have passed the examinations?" On jichou, Wang Pu was promoted to vice director of the Secretariat, and he and Fan Zhi were both assigned to participate in Palace Secretariat business. Wei Renpu was appointed vice director of the Chancellery and Associate Grand Councilor while continuing as Palace Secretariat commissioner. Though Renpu held the levers of power, he stayed humble and careful. The emperor was stern and quick to anger; when those near him crossed his will, Renpu often accepted guilt in their place and spared seven or eight of every ten from death. So although he had climbed from a clerk's desk to the chancellorship, contemporaries did not think him undeserving. Wu Yanzuo, commissioner of the Southern Bureau of the Palace Secretariat, was also named General-in-chief of the Left Brave Cavalry and appointed Palace Secretariat commissioner. Guidé military governor and chief adjutant of the Personal Guard Han Tong, together with Zhenning military governor and concurrent palace-gate commander Zhang Yongde, were both made Associate Grand Councilors; Tong continued as deputy commander-in-chief of the Personal Guard; the future Emperor Taizu was concurrently appointed commander of the palace-gate duty roster.
89
上嘗問大臣可為相者於兵部尚書張昭，昭薦李濤。 上愕然曰：「濤輕薄無大臣體，朕問相而卿首薦之，何也？」 對曰：「陛下所責者細行也，臣所舉者大節也。 昔晉高祖之世，張彥澤虐殺不辜，濤累疏請誅之，以為不殺必為國患； 漢隱帝之世，濤亦上疏請解先帝兵權。 夫國家安危未形而能見之，此真宰相器也，臣是以薦之。」 上曰：「卿言甚善且至公，然如濤者，終不可置之中書。」 濤喜詼諧，不修邊幅，與弟澣俱以文學著名，雖甚友愛，而多謔浪，無長幼體，上以是薄之。 上以翰林學士單父王著幕府舊僚，屢欲相之，以其嗜酒無檢而罷。
The emperor once asked Minister of War Zhang Zhao whom he might make chancellor; Zhao recommended Li Tao. The emperor, taken aback, said, "Tao is flighty and lacks a great minister's dignity. I ask who should be chancellor and you name him first—why?" He answered, "Your Majesty faults petty behavior; what I commend is large-minded principle. Under Jin Gaozu, Zhang Yanzhe butchered innocents at will; Tao memorialized again and again demanding his execution, warning that unless he were killed he would endanger the state; under Later Han's Emperor Yin, Tao likewise memorialized to strip the late emperor of military authority. To foresee the realm's safety or peril before it shows itself—that is true chancellor timber; that is why I recommend him. The emperor said, "Your argument is excellent and perfectly fair, yet a man like Tao can never sit in the Secretariat. Tao loved repartee and neglected decorum; he and his younger brother Huan were both celebrated for letters. Though devoted to each other, they bantered coarsely without regard for seniority, and the emperor therefore held him cheap. Because Hanlin academician Wang Zhu of Shanfu had served him in his princely household, the emperor often thought to make him chancellor, but dropped the idea on account of his drinking and want of restraint.
90
癸巳，大漸，召范質等入受顧命。 上曰：「王著籓邸故人，朕若不起，當相之。」 質等出，相謂曰：「著終日游醉鄉，豈堪為相！ 慎毋洩此言。」 是日，上殂。
On guisi his condition turned grave; he called Fan Zhi and the others to receive his dying instructions. The emperor said, "Wang Zhu is an old friend from my princely days; if I do not rise again, you should make him chancellor." When Zhi and his colleagues withdrew, they told one another, "Zhu lives in the country of drunkenness—how could he serve as chancellor! See that this is not breathed abroad. That day the emperor passed away.
91
上在籓，多務韜晦，及即位，破高平之寇，人始服其英武。 其御軍，號令嚴明，人莫敢犯，攻城對敵，矢石落其左右，人皆失色，而上略不動容。 應機決策，出人意表。 又勤於為治，百司簿籍，過目無所忘。 發奸擿伏，聰察如神。 閒暇則召儒者讀前史，商榷大義。 性不好絲竹珍玩之物，常言太祖養成王峻、王殷之惡，致君臣之分不終，故群臣有過則面質責之，服則赦之，有功則厚賞之。 文武參用，各盡其能，人無不畏其明而懷其惠，故能破敵廣地，所向無前。 然用法太嚴，群臣職事小有不舉，往往置之極刑，雖素有才幹聲名，無所開宥，尋亦悔之，末年浸寬。 登遐之日，遠邇哀慕焉。
In his princely years he had mostly kept his light hidden; only after he took the throne and crushed the foe at Gaoping did people truly credit his martial prowess. He commanded armies with orders so strict that none dared disobey; in siege or battle, though arrows and stones rained to either side and his men blanched, he barely stirred. He seized the moment and laid plans no one else foresaw. He was tireless in administration; records from every office crossed his gaze and nothing slipped his memory. In unmasking fraud and digging out hidden crimes, his insight seemed almost supernatural. In his spare hours he called Confucian scholars to read the old histories and debate their larger themes. He cared little for silk, music, or fine trinkets. He often remarked that Emperor Taizu had indulged the vices of Wang Jun and Wang Yin until ruler and minister could not keep their proper distance to the end; so when ministers slipped he confronted them openly, pardoned those who yielded, and richly rewarded those who served well. He used civil and military men together and drew out each man's strength; all feared his clarity and treasured his grace, and so he shattered enemies, widened his borders, and marched wherever he aimed. Yet his justice was pitiless: the slightest failure in office often brought the death penalty, and even men of established talent and fame won no mercy. He came to regret this, and in his last years softened somewhat. When he died, mourners near and far grieved for him.
92
甲午，宣遺詔，命梁王宗訓即皇帝位，生七年矣。
On jiawu the testament was read out, directing Prince of Liang Zongxun to ascend the throne at once; he was seven years old.
93
秋，七月，壬戌，以侍衛親軍都指揮使李重進領淮南節度使，副都指揮使韓通領天平節度使，太祖皇帝領歸德節度使。 以山南東道節度使、同平章事向拱為西京留守。 庚申，加拱兼侍中。 拱，即向訓也，避恭帝名改焉。
In autumn, the seventh month, on renxu, Personal Guard commander-in-chief Li Chongjin took Huainan as military governor; deputy commander Han Tong took Tianping; the future Emperor Taizu took Guide. Shannan East Circuit military governor and Associate Grand Councilor Xiang Gong was appointed defender of the western capital. On gengshen Xiang Gong was further named palace attendant. Gong had been Xiang Xun; the name was altered to avoid the taboo of the deposed Emperor Gong.
94
丙寅，大赦。
On bingyin a general amnesty was declared.
95
唐主以金陵去周境才隔一水，洪州險固居上游，集群臣議徙都之。 群臣多不欲徙，惟樞密副使、給事中唐鎬勸之，乃命經營豫章為都城之制。
The Southern Tang ruler, seeing Jinling separated from Zhou by only a strip of water while Hongzhou was defensible and lay upstream, convened his ministers to debate relocating the capital. Most ministers opposed the move; only Palace Secretariat deputy commissioner and giving-office attendant Tang Gao pressed for it, and he was ordered to plan Yuzhang on the model of a capital.
96
唐自淮上用兵及割江北，臣事於周，歲時貢獻，府藏空竭，錢益少，物價騰貴。 禮部侍郎鐘謨請鑄大錢，一當五十。 中書舍人韓熙載請鑄鐵錢。 唐主始皆不從，謨陳請不已，乃從之。 是月，始鑄當十大錢，文曰「永通泉貨」，又鑄當二錢，文曰「唐國通寶」，與開元錢並行。
Since Tang had fought on the Huai, ceded territory north of the river, and served Zhou with yearly tribute, its coffers were drained; cash grew scarce and prices climbed. Vice Minister of Rites Zhong Mo asked to mint large coins valued at fifty to one. Secretariat drafting officer Han Xizai proposed casting iron coinage. The Tang ruler at first refused both proposals; Mo pleaded without relenting until he won consent. That month they first minted ten-for-one great coins bearing the inscription Eternal Circulation currency, and two-for-one coins inscribed Tang state universal treasure, to circulate together with Kaiyuan cash.
97
八月，戊子，蜀主以李昊領武信節度使，右補闕李起上言：「故事，宰相無領方鎮者。」 蜀主曰：「昊家多冗費，以厚祿優之耳。」 起，邛州人，性婞直，李昊嘗語之曰：「以子之才，苟能慎默，當為翰林學士。」 起曰：「俟無舌，乃不言耳。」
In the eighth month, on wuzi, the Shu ruler appointed Li Hao to the Wuxin military governorship. Right Supplementation Censor Li Qi memorialized, "By precedent, chancellors do not hold frontier commands." The Shu ruler said, "Hao's household runs to extravagance; this is merely a way to favor him with a generous stipend." Qi was a native of Qiongzhou, blunt and incorruptibly upright. Li Hao once told him, "With your gifts, if only you could hold your tongue and watch your step, you would rise to the Hanlin Academy." Qi said, "Only when I have no tongue will I fall silent."2
98
庚寅，立皇弟宗讓為曹王，更名熙讓； 熙謹為紀王，熙誨為蘄王。
On gengyin, the emperor enfeoffed his younger brother Zongrang as Prince of Cao, renaming him Xirang; he enfeoffed Xijin as Prince of Ji and Xihui as Prince of Qi.
99
九月，丙午，唐太子弘冀卒，有司引浙西之功，謚曰武宣。 句容尉全椒張洎上言：「太子之德，主於孝敬，今謚以武功，非所以防微而慎德也。」 乃更謚曰文獻，擢洎為上元尉。
In the ninth month, on bingwu, Southern Tang Crown Prince Li Hongji died. The authorities cited his Zhexi campaigns and posthumously named him Martial and Proclamatory. Zhang Bi, magistrate of Jurong in Quanjiao, memorialized, "A crown prince's virtue lies above all in filial piety and reverence. To enshrine him under a martial name is no way to check small faults and guard one's moral conduct." The posthumous name was therefore changed to Literary and Filial, and Zhang Bi was promoted to magistrate of Shangyuan.
100
唐禮部侍郎、知尚書省事鐘謨數奉使入周，傳世宗命於唐主，世宗及唐主皆厚待之，恃此驕橫於其國，三省之事皆預焉。 文獻太子總朝政，謨求兼東宮官不得，乃薦其所善閻式為司議郎，掌百司關啟。 李德明之死也，唐鎬預其謀，謨聞鎬受賕，嘗面詰之，鎬甚懼。 謨與天威都虞候張巒善，數於弘第屏人語至夜分，鎬譖諸唐主曰：「謨與巒氣類不同，而過相親狎，謨屢使上國，巒北人，恐其有異謀。」 又言：「永通大錢民多盜鑄，犯法者眾。」 及文獻太子卒，唐主欲方其母弟鄭王從嘉，謨嘗與紀公從善同奉使於周，相厚善，言於唐主曰：「從嘉德輕志懦，又酷信釋氏，非人主才。 從善果敢凝重，宜為嗣。」 唐主由是怒。 尋徙從嘉為吳王、尚書令、知政事，居東宮。 冬，十月，謨請令張巒以所部兵巡徼都城。 唐主乃下詔暴謨侵官之罪，貶國子司業，流饒州，貶張巒為宣州副使，未幾，皆殺之。 廢永通錢。
Southern Tang Vice Minister of Rites Zhong Mo, who oversaw the Imperial Secretariat, had often gone as envoy to Zhou, bearing Emperor Shizong's commands to Li Jing. Shizong and Li Jing both treated him handsomely, and he grew arrogant at home on that account, meddling in the business of all three secretariats. The Literary and Filial Crown Prince had taken charge of court affairs. When Mo sought an Eastern Palace post as well and was refused, he put forward his protégé Yan Shi as Secretariat Drafter to control the routing of memorials for every office. Tang Gao had taken part in the plot surrounding Li Deming's death. When Mo learned that Gao had accepted bribes, he once confronted him to his face, and Gao was terrified. Mo was close to Tianwei Army Vice Commander Zhang Luan; they often dismissed attendants and talked alone at Mo's mansion far into the night. Tang Gao denounced them to Li Jing, saying, "Mo and Luan are not cut from the same cloth, yet they are uncommonly intimate. Mo has gone repeatedly to the northern court, and Luan is a northerner—I fear they are hatching some secret plot." He added, "The people are counterfeiting the Eternal Circulation great coins in great numbers, and offenders are everywhere." When the Literary and Filial Crown Prince died, Li Jing meant to install his younger uterine brother, Prince of Zheng Li Congjia, as heir. Mo had once served with Prince Ji Li Congshan on a mission to Zhou and they were on excellent terms, so he told Li Jing, "Congjia's character is light and his spirit timid, and he is a fervent devotee of Buddhism—not material for a ruler. Congshan is bold, resolute, and grave. He is the one who should succeed you." Li Jing flew into a rage. Before long Li Jing moved Congjia to Prince of Wu, made him Director of the Imperial Secretariat with charge of government affairs, and installed him in the Eastern Palace. In winter, the tenth month, Mo asked that Zhang Luan patrol the capital with the troops under his command. Li Jing then issued an edict denouncing Mo for usurping authority, demoted him to Vice Director of the Imperial University, and exiled him to Raozhou; Zhang Luan was demoted to vice commissioner of Xuanzhou. Before long both were put to death. The Eternal Circulation coins were abolished.
101
十一月，壬寅朔，葬睿武孝文皇帝於慶陵，廟號世宗。
In the eleventh month, on the first day renyin, the Sagaciously Martial and Filially Cultured Emperor was buried at Qingling and given the temple name Shizong.
102
南漢主以中書舍人鐘允章，籓府舊僚，擢為尚書右丞、參政事，甚委任之。 允章請誅亂法者數人以正綱紀，南漢主不能從，宦官聞而惡之。 南漢主將祀圜丘，前三日，允章帥禮官登壇，四顧指揮設神位，內侍監許彥真望之曰：「此謀反也！」 即帶劍登壇，允章叱之。 彥真馳入宮，告允章欲於郊祀日作亂。 南漢主曰：「朕待允章厚，豈有此邪！」 玉清宮使龔澄樞、內侍監李托等共證之，以彥真言為然，乃收允章，系含章樓下，命宦者與禮部尚書薛用丕雜治之。 用丕素與允章善，告以必不免，允章執用丕手泣曰：「老夫今日猶機上肉耳，分為仇人所烹。 但恨邕、昌幼，不知吾冤，及其長也，公為我語之。」 彥真聞之，罵曰：「反賊欲使其子報仇邪！」 復白南漢主曰：「允章與二子共登壇，潛有所禱。」 俱斬之。 自是宦官益橫。 李托，封州人也，辛亥，南漢主祀圜丘，大赦。 未幾，以龔澄樞為左龍虎觀軍容使、內太師，軍國之事皆取決焉。 凡群臣有才能及進士狀頭或僧道可與談者，皆先下蠶室，然後得進，亦有自宮以求進者，亦有免死而宮者，由是宦者近二萬人。 貴顯用事之人，大抵皆宦者也，謂士人為門外人，不得預事，卒以此亡國。
The Southern Han ruler promoted Zhong Yunzhang, once a colleague in his princely household and now a Secretariat Drafter, to Right Vice Director of the Imperial Secretariat with a seat in government, and relied on him heavily. Yunzhang asked that several violators of the law be executed to restore discipline. The Southern Han ruler would not consent, and the eunuchs, hearing of it, came to hate him. Three days before the Southern Han ruler was to sacrifice at the Round Altar, Yunzhang led the ritual officers onto the altar, scanning the ground and directing the placement of the spirit tablets. Palace Internals Supervisor Xu Yanzhen saw him and shouted, "This is rebellion!" He drew his sword at once and climbed the altar. Yunzhang rebuked him. Yanzhen galloped into the palace and reported that Yunzhang meant to raise rebellion on the day of the suburban sacrifice. The Southern Han ruler said, "I have treated Yunzhang with great favor. How could such a thing be!" Yuqing Palace Commissioner Gong Chengsu, Palace Internals Supervisor Li Tuo, and others backed the accusation. Taking Yanzhen at his word, the ruler seized Yunzhang, bound him beneath Hanzhang Tower, and ordered eunuchs to join Minister of Rites Xue Yongpi in examining the case. Yongpi had long been Yunzhang's friend and told him there was no escape. Yunzhang took his hand and wept, saying, "Today this old man is meat on the block, soon to be stewed by his enemy. Only I grieve that Yong and Chang are still young and do not know how I have been wronged. When they are grown, tell them for me." Yanzhen overheard and cursed, "The traitor means his sons to avenge him!" He reported again to the Southern Han ruler, "Yunzhang went up the altar with his two sons and secretly prayed for something." All three were beheaded. From that time the eunuchs grew yet more tyrannical. Li Tuo was a native of Fengzhou. On xinhai the Southern Han ruler sacrificed at the Round Altar and proclaimed a general amnesty. Before long Gong Chengsu was made Left Army Reverence Commissioner of the Dragon-Tiger Watch and Grand Preceptor within the Palace, and military and state affairs alike were settled through him. Any capable minister, any jinshi who had topped the examinations, or any monk or Daoist worth speaking with—all had first to pass through the castration house before they could rise. Some castrated themselves to advance; others were castrated to escape death. Eunuchs therefore numbered nearly twenty thousand. Those who held rank and power were almost all eunuchs. They called the literati "men outside the gate" and shut them out of affairs of state. In the end the realm was lost for this.
103
唐更命洪州曰南昌府，建南都，以武清節度使何敬洙為南都留守，以兵部尚書陳繼善為南昌尹。
Southern Tang renamed Hongzhou as Nanchang Prefecture and raised a southern capital there. Wuqing military governor He Jingzhu was made garrison commander of the southern capital, and Minister of War Chen Jishan was appointed prefect of Nanchang.
104
周人之攻秦、鳳也、蜀中忷懼。 都官郎中徐及甫自負才略，仕不得志，陰結黨與，謀奉前蜀高祖之孫少府少監王令儀為主以作亂，會周兵退而止。 至是，其黨有告者，收捕之，及甫自殺。 十二月，甲午，賜令儀死。
When Zhou armies attacked Qin and Feng, fear swept through Shu. Xu Jifu, Director of the Office for Visiting Officials, proud of his talent and thwarted in his career, secretly gathered allies and plotted to set up Wang Lingyi, grandson of Former Shu's Founder and Deputy Supervisor of the Palace Storehouse, as their figurehead for rebellion. When Zhou forces withdrew, the scheme collapsed. At this time one of the faction turned informer. Arrests followed, and Jifu killed himself. In the twelfth month, on jiawu, Wang Lingyi was condemned to death.
105
端明殿學士、兵部侍郎竇儀使於唐，天雨雪，唐主欲受詔於廡下。 儀曰：「使者奉詔而來，不敢失舊禮。 若雪沾服，請俟它日。」 唐主乃拜詔於庭。
Hanlin Academician and Vice Minister of War Dou Yi went as envoy to Southern Tang. Snow was falling, and Li Jing wished to receive the edict under a covered walk. Dou Yi said, "I come bearing an imperial edict and dare not depart from the old rites. If the snow should soil our robes, let us wait for another day." Li Jing then received the edict with obeisance in the open court.
106
契丹主遣其舅使於唐，泰州團練使荊罕儒募刺客使殺之。 唐人夜宴契丹使者於清風驛，酒酣，起更衣。 久不返，視之，失其首矣。 自是契丹與唐絕。 罕儒，冀州人也。
The Khitan ruler sent his maternal uncle as envoy to Southern Tang. Taizhou regiment trainer Jing Hanru hired assassins to kill him. That night the Tang hosts feasted the Khitan envoy at Qingfeng Station. When the wine was well advanced, he rose to change his clothes. He was gone a long while; when they went to look, his head was missing. From that day forward, Khitan and Tang ties were severed. Hanru was a native of Jizhou.
107
臣光言：先奉敕編集歷代君臣事跡，又奉聖旨賜名《資治通鑒》，今已了畢者。 伏念臣性識愚魯，學術荒疏，凡百事為，皆出人下。 獨於前史，粗嘗盡心，自幼至老，嗜之不厭。 每患遷、固以來，文字繁多，自布衣之士，讀之不遍，況於人主，日有萬機，何暇周覽！ 臣常不自揆，欲刪削冗長，舉撮機要，專取關國家興衰，系生民休戚，善可為法，惡可為戒者，為編年一書。 使先後有倫，精粗不雜，私家力薄，無由可成。 伏遇英宗皇帝，資睿智之性，敷文明之治，思歷覽古事，用恢張大猷，愛詔下臣，俾之編集。 臣夙昔所願，一朝獲伸，踴躍奉承，惟懼不稱。 先帝仍命自選辟官屬，於崇文院置局，許借龍圖、天章閣、三館、秘閣書籍，賜以御府筆墨繒帛及御前錢以供果餌，以內臣為承受，眷遇之榮，近臣莫及。 不幸書未進御，先帝違棄群臣。 陛下紹膺大統，欽承先志，寵以冠序，錫之嘉名，每開經筵，常令進讀。 臣雖頑愚，荷兩朝知待如此其厚，隕身喪元，未足報塞，苟智力所及，豈敢有遺！ 會差知永興軍，以衰疾不任治劇，乞就冗官。 陛下俯從所欲，曲賜容養，差判西京留司御史台及提舉嵩山崇福宮，前後六任，仍聽以書局自隨，給之祿秩，不責職業。 臣既無他事，得以研精極慮，窮竭所有，日力不足，繼之以夜。 遍閱舊史，旁采小說，簡牘盈積，浩如煙海，抉擿幽隱，校計豪厘。 上起戰國，下終五代，凡一千三百六十二年，修成二百九十四卷。 又略舉事目，年經國緯，以備檢尋，為目錄三十卷。 又參考群書，評其同異，俾歸一塗，為《考異》三十卷。 合三百五十四卷。 自治平開局，迨今始成，歲月淹久，其間抵牾，不敢自保，罪負之重，固無所逃。 臣光誠惶誠懼，頓首頓首。
I, Guang, respectfully report: I was first commanded to compile the records of rulers and ministers across the ages, then honored with the imperial title Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance; that task is now complete. I must confess that I am slow of wit and shallow in scholarship, outmatched in nearly everything I undertake. History alone has held my devotion from youth to age — imperfectly, but without weariness. I have long lamented that since Sima Qian and Ban Gu our texts have swelled beyond any common scholar’s reach — let alone a ruler beset daily by the myriad cares of state. I dared to imagine trimming the excess, distilling what turns on dynastic fortune and the people’s fate — examples to emulate and warnings to heed — into a single chronological history. So the narrative might run in clear sequence, the vital separated from the trivial — yet on my own I lacked the means to finish. Then came Emperor Yingzong — wise, cultivated, eager to survey antiquity and enlarge the realm’s purpose — who graciously commanded me to undertake the compilation. A lifelong wish granted overnight: I accepted the task with alacrity, anxious only that I might fail it. The late emperor further let me choose my own staff, set up an office in the Chongwen Academy, borrow from the imperial libraries, and supplied brushes, ink, silk, and stipends from the palace purse, with a eunuch liaison — favors few courtiers have known. Tragically, before the work could be presented, Emperor Yingzong departed and left us behind. Your Majesty inherited the throne, upheld our late sovereign’s intent, graced the work with your preface and its noble title, and at the classics lectures have often had it read aloud. Dull as I am, the kindness of two emperors leaves me owing a debt no sacrifice could repay; whatever wit I have, I dare withhold nothing. When I was posted to Yongxing, age and illness left me unfit for demanding office, and I petitioned for a lighter appointment. You indulged my request, gave me a gentle berth as Western Capital censor and keeper of Chongfu Palace — six nominal posts — yet let me keep my compilers, pay my stipend, and free me from other duties. With nothing else required of me, I poured every faculty into the work, and when daylight failed, labored on by lamplight. I combed the standard histories and sifted lesser accounts until the documents towered like a sea of mist, winnowing obscurities and weighing every discrepancy. From the Warring States through the Five Dynasties — 1,362 years in all — the history runs to 294 scrolls. I also drew up a concise topical index, year by year and state by state, for ready reference: the Catalogue in thirty scrolls. I further compared sources and harmonized their conflicts in Examinations of Discrepancies, thirty scrolls. In all, 354 scrolls. From the bureau’s opening in the Zhiping era until this day the work has been long in the making; flaws surely remain for which I cannot answer — guilt I cannot escape. Your subject Guang, trembling with awe, kowtows again and again.
108
重念臣違離闕庭，十有五年，雖身處於外，區區之心，朝夕寤寐，何嘗不在陛下之左右！ 顧以駑蹇，無施而可，是以專事鉛槧，用酬大恩，庶竭涓塵，少裨海岳。 臣今賅骨懼瘁，目視昏近，齒牙無幾，神識衰耗，目前所為，旋踵遺忘。 臣之精力，盡於此書。 伏望陛下寬其妄作之誅，察其願忠之意，以清閒之燕，時賜有覽，監前世之興衰，考當今之得失，嘉善矜惡，取得捨非，足以懋稽古之盛德，躋無前之至治。 俾四海群生，鹹蒙其福，則臣雖委骨九泉，志願永畢矣！
Though fifteen years have passed since I left court, my heart, humble as it is, has never ceased to attend upon Your Majesty, waking or asleep. Finding myself useless for anything else, I gave myself wholly to the pen, to repay your kindness — hoping a mote of effort might marginally serve the realm. I am worn to the bone, my sight failing, my teeth nearly gone, my mind fading — what I do one moment slips from me the next. All my strength has gone into this book. I beg Your Majesty to forgive this bold offering, see the loyalty in my intent, and in moments of leisure peruse the work — tracing past dynasties’ fortunes, weighing the present’s right and wrong, honoring virtue and restraining vice — so that your reverence for antiquity may crown a governance without peer. May all under heaven share in that blessing; then though I lie in the grave, my duty will be done.
109
謹奉表陳進以聞。 臣光誠惶誠懼，頓首頓首，謹言。」」」」
I respectfully submit this memorial for your notice. Your subject Guang, trembling with awe, kowtows again and again — respectfully yours.””””
Footnotes
- Thus he ended
- Thus he ended