Pei Shu

Pei Shu (裴樞) (841 -July 5, 905 ), courtesy name Jisheng (紀聖) or Huasheng (化聖), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, who served two terms as chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Zhaozong and Emperor Zhaozong's son Emperor Ai, near the end of the dynasty. He was killed in a purge of high-level Tang officials by the warlord Zhu Quanzhong the military governor (Jiedushi) of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), who was then preparing to seize the throne.

Background Pei Shu was born in 841, during the reign of Emperor Wuzong. Du invited Pei to serve as his secretary. Pei thereafter served as a copyeditor (校書郎, Xiaoshu Lang) at the Palace Library, and then the sheriff of Lantian County (藍田, in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi), but was also serving as a scholar at Hongwen Pavilion (弘文館). The chancellor Wang Duo, who headed the operations at Hongwen Pavilion, appreciated his abilities. It was only after he accompanied Emperor Yizong's son and successor Emperor Xizong on the flight from Chang'an to Chengdu (due to the attack on Chang'an by the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao in 880) that, at the recommendation of the deputy chief imperial censor Li Huan (李煥) that he was made a censor with the title Duanzhong Shi Yushi (殿中侍御史). He thereafter became an imperial chronicler (起居郎, Qiju Lang). Pei was recalled to the imperial government to serve as You Sanqi Changshi (右散騎常侍), a high-level advisory official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng). On the way back to Chang'an, he went through Xuanwu Circuit, whose military governor, Zhu Quanzhong, had already become a powerful warlord. He met with Zhu and honored Zhu as an older brother, pleasing Zhu. Pei followed the emperor to Hua Prefecture, and was subsequently sent as an imperial emissary to Xuanwu. Because of the prior friendly relationship he established with Zhu, Zhu offered much tribute to the imperial court at that time, pleasing Emperor Zhaozong, who promoted Pei to be the deputy minister of defense (兵部侍郎, Bingbu Shilang). As the chancellor Cui Yin was also an ally of Zhu's, Cui and Pei also became allies, and at Cui's recommendation he was made the deputy minister of civil service affairs (吏部侍郎, Libu Shilang).

In 903, after Zhu had defeated Li and forced him to surrender the emperor, Emperor Zhaozong returned to Chang'an; he subsequently made Pei the military governor of Qinghai Circuit (清海, headquartered in modern Guangzhou, Guangdong), carrying the Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi and You Pushe (右僕射) titles as honorary titles. However, Zhu then submitted a petition arguing that Pei was good at managing the state and should not be sent out of the capital. Emperor Zhaozong therefore made Pei chancellor again with the designation of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi as well as Menxia Shilang (門下侍郎), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng). Pei was also put in charge of editing the imperial histories.

While Zhu Quanzhong and Cui were long-time allies, Zhu eventually came to suspect that Cui was organizing a new imperial army to oppose him, and that Cui was behind the death of his nephew Zhu Youlun (朱友倫), whom Zhu Quanzhong had left in command of a Xuanwu contingent at Chang'an to guard the emperor but who died in a polo accident in late 903. In spring 904, Zhu Quanzhong submitted a forceful petition to Emperor Zhaozong accusing Cui of treason, and subsequently killed Cui. Then, he issued an order to Pei that the capital, and the emperor, should be moved to the eastern capital Luoyang, and subsequently had his troops force the emperor and the residents of Chang'an to abandon Chang'an and move to Luoyang. Later in the year, Zhu had Emperor Zhaozong assassinated; Emperor Zhaozong's son Li Zuo the Prince of Hui was declared emperor (as Emperor Ai). Pei continued to serve as chancellor.

Final removal and death Meanwhile, the long-time association between Zhu Quanzhong and Pei Shu also became strained after Emperor Ai's ascension. Zhu had one of his own associates, Liu Can, made chancellor as well, but Pei, along with chancellors Dugu Sun and Cui Yuan, did not respect Liu, causing Liu to make false accusations against them to Zhu. The matter came to a head when Zhu wanted a performer that he favored, Zhang Tingfan (張廷範), made the minister of worship (太常卿, Taichang Qing). Pei, not wanting to carry this out, tried to deflect Zhu's recommendation by stating, "Zhang Tingfan had great accomplishments and should be a military governor. Why would he happy by merely being a minister? I do not believe that this really is the will of the Generalissimo [(i.e., Zhu)]." He refused to approve Zhang's commission, and Zhu, upon hearing this, stated, "I had long thought that the 14th Pei to be true and pure, not frivolous. His comments have showed his true self." This incident, in combination with Liu's accusations, caused Zhu to have him, as well as Dugu and Cui, removed from chancellorship in spring 905. Pei was made Zuo Pushe (左僕射), one of the heads of the executive bureau (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng).

With Zhu preparing to seize the throne, Liu and another associate of Zhu's, Li Zhen, argued for a general purge of high-level imperial officials who were from aristocratic families. Zhu agreed, and initially a large number of them were demoted and exiled — in Pei's case, to be the prefect of Deng Prefecture (登州, in modern Penglai, Shandong), and then to be the census officer of Shuang Prefecture (瀧州, in modern Yunfu, Guangdong). Soon thereafter, some 30 of these officials — including Pei, Dugu, Cui, fellow former chancellors Lu Yi, Wang Pu, and other officials Zhao Chong (趙崇) and Wang Zan (王贊) — were rounded up at Baima Station (白馬驛, in modern Anyang, Henan) and ordered to commit suicide. At Li Zhen's request (as Li Zhen, who was unable to pass the imperial examinations, resented these traditional aristocrats for claiming to be free from taint), Zhu had their bodies thrown into the Yellow River (as Li Zhen put it, to taint them).

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 113. New Book of Tang, vol. 140. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 259, 262, 264, 265.