History of Jin Dynasty. Biography of Shan Tao

Reference Translation

Shan Tao, whose courtesy name was Juyuan, was a native of Huai County, Hanoi (now Shaanxi Province, Henan Province). Shantao lost his father when he was very young. His family was poor, but he was thoughtful and outstanding. He naturally loves "Laozi" and "Zhuangzi", and often deliberately conceals his edge from others. He was very close to Ji Kang, Lu An and others. Later, he met Ruan Ji and became a wise man in the bamboo forest, and they fell in love with each other. Ji Kang later committed a crime, and before he was killed, he said to his son Ji Shao: "With Shan Tao here, you will not be an orphan." Shan Tao did not become the county administrator until he was forty years old. He was recommended as Xiaolian, and the state promoted him to work in Henan. In the early years of Xianxi's reign, Shantao was named the left chief official of the prime minister. At that time, because Shantao had always been highly regarded in his hometown, the Emperor of Jin asked the prince to pay a visit. Sima Zhao adopted Sima You as his heir, and he always valued Sima You. He once said to Pei Xiu: "The foundation created by the general (Sima Shi) has not been completed yet. I am just following him, so I want to establish Sima You." You, I owe my future success to my brother, what do you think?" Pei Xiu thought that he couldn't do this. Sima Zhao asked Shan Tao again, and Shan Tao replied: "Abandoning the older one and erecting the younger one violates etiquette and is unlucky. Major events (involving) national security must follow the ancient system." Then the position of the prince was determined. Come down. Prince Xin went to pay homage to Shan Tao. When Yang Hu was in power, someone wanted to harm Pei Xiu, but Shan Tao resolutely protected him. Therefore, he was not in line with the wishes of the powerful ministers who moved to the dynasty, so he was sent out to be the governor of Jizhou and concurrently served as the general of Ningyuan. Shan Tao twice served as an official in selecting talents for more than ten years. Whenever there was a vacancy, he would first select a few people to see who the emperor preferred. as the first priority. Therefore, sometimes the person chosen by the emperor is not the best recommender. Most people do not know the inside story and think that Shan Tao chooses the person arbitrarily based on his own likes and dislikes. Someone attacked and framed Shan Tao in front of the emperor, so the emperor personally wrote to Shan Tao to warn him: "Let people be based on their talents, and don't neglect them because they are alienated from the poor, and the world will be peaceful." Shan Tao still went his own way, and a year later, it happened that It was the period when Hou Qi was in power. He didn't want the Yang family to take power and tried to persuade the emperor many times. The emperor understood it, but he couldn't correct it. Later, he petitioned the emperor many times for permission to abdicate on the grounds of old age and serious illness. The emperor once went to the Xuanwu Field to give lectures on martial arts. Shan Tao was ill at that time, so (the emperor) asked him to follow him in a car. He took this opportunity to discuss with Lu Qin the basis of military use, and believed that the armaments of states and counties should not be abolished. His discussion was very accurate. At the beginning, Yuan Yi, a native of Chen County, once served as the magistrate of Ge County (governing the northern part of today's Shandong Plain). He corrupted and perverted the law and bribed ministers in order to gain a good reputation. He also gave Shan Tao a hundred pounds of fei. Shan Tao did not want to go against the customs of the time alone, so he accepted Come down and hide in the pavilion. Later, Yuan Yi's evil deeds were exposed, and he was sent to Tingwei in a prison car to be punished. Everyone he bribed would be held accountable. Shantao took out the silk and handed it to the officials. There were many years of dust on it, but the seal was intact.