A letter announcing to all the circuits that the grain transport is to be hurried告報諸道徵促綱運書
1Xuzhou blocks the road, so send the army's grain by water
謹告某州節度使。夫忠於國者。無以家爲。是故。漢代微臣。有傾産助邊之請。魏朝烈士。有擧宗陳力之言。況乃邊寄榮身。兵符在手。遇大朝之多難。見上宰之董戎。而不能役致泛舟。令行挈畚。使戰士猶多飢色。將軍未獻捷書。但忝分憂。實爲忍恥。某昨從中夏。再集大軍。不慙素飽之名。已誓無譁之衆。仍差都押衙韓汶。先齎金帛百萬疋。救接都統令公軍前。旣裝運船。將扣飛檝。言遵汴道。徑指圃田。必値徐戎來侵淮口。扼斷河路。攻圍郡城。近者又擁兇徒。直衝近境。敢憑蝟結。欲恣鯨呑。當道旣見阻艱。暫須停駐。遂乃揀徵驍勇。往討頑兇。佇靜封疆。便登道路。必可豁通綱運。廣備供輸。行稱東道主人。非無意也。立斬南陽太守。竊有志焉。諸道久荷深恩。各居重任。縱以家門寶貨。猶合贍軍。況將州縣賦輿。豈宜壅利。其宣武，忠武，天平，昭義，泰寧，平虜，河陽等道。盡發雄師。咸從統命。其依饋運。各已通流。其浙東，浙西，宣州，江西，鄂州，荊南，湖南，嶺南，福建等道。今欲踰年。未聆發運。若由水路。須入汴河。如此稽留。何因濟集。必計杜畿美化。遍得人心。任峻奇謀。兼施兵力。速請同勤饋輦。繼發綱船。齊至都統軍前。早期收復京闕。其徐州實爲國蠹。豈止隣讎。蓋以天暫容奸。地猶聚慝。昔爲龐勳叛亂。早合瀦宮。昨因時溥猖狂。更宜塗地。偶屬朝廷。未誅大憝。不問小瑕。貴悅軍情。驟加爵賞。而乃時溥罔遵詔旨。尙搆奸謀。去年曾犯淮山。今夏又侵泗水。乃作黃巢外應。久妨諸道進軍。先須剗當路之豺狼。後可殄壞堤之螻蟻。冀使隋皇新路。楊柳含春。無令漢祖舊鄕。荊榛撲地。凡承寵寄。共察忠誠。謹告。
I respectfully announce this to the military commissioner of such-and-such a prefecture. One who is loyal to the state makes no matter of his own household. So it was that a lowly subject in the Han age asked leave to pour out his whole estate to help the frontier, and a man of ardor in the Wei court spoke of raising his whole clan to offer its strength. How much more those whose bodies are honored by a charge on the frontier and who hold the military tally in their hands? To meet the many troubles of the great court, to see the chief minister overseeing the troops, and yet to be unable to set boats afloat or to order baskets taken up, so that the fighting men still wear a hungry look and the generals have presented no letter of victory, is merely to share the sovereign's care unworthily, and truly it is to swallow shame. Since midsummer I have gathered a great army once more. I am not ashamed of the name of men who are well fed in ordinary times, and I have already sworn in a host that makes no clamor. Then I sent the chief yaya Han Wen ahead with a million bolts of gold and silk to carry relief to the front of the Commander-in-chief's army. The transport boats were already fitted out and the flying oars were about to strike the water. The plan was to follow the road to Bian and head straight for Putian. But they met the troops of Xu, who had come to raid the mouth of the Huai, cutting off the river road and attacking and surrounding the prefectural city. Of late these men have again gathered their savage crowd and thrust straight at the borders near me, daring to trust in their hedgehog bristling and wishing to gulp like whales as they please. My own circuit, meeting this obstruction, must halt a while. So I have picked out the bold and the valiant, levied them, and sent them to punish these stubborn villains. Once the borders are quiet we will take to the road at once, and then the transport can surely be opened and supplies provided in plenty. To be called the host of the eastern road as one goes is not without its meaning, and to cut down the governor of Nanyang where one stands is a purpose I privately hold. The several circuits have long borne deep grace and each holds a weighty charge. Even the treasures of your own households would rightly go to provide for the army. How much more the tribute carts of your prefectures and counties? How can it be right to dam up what is useful? The circuits of Xuanwu, Zhongwu, Tianping, Zhaoyi, Taining, Pinglu and Heyang have all sent out their strong armies and all follow the Commander-in-chief's orders, and their supply transport has each been set flowing. But from the circuits of Zhedong, Zhexi, Xuanzhou, Jiangxi, Ezhou, Jingnan, Hunan, Lingnan and Fujian, now that a year is almost past, no word has been heard of transport setting out. If it is to come by water it must enter the Bian River. With delay like this, by what means will it cross over and gather? Surely you will use the fine governance of Du Ji to win the hearts of the people everywhere, and the rare devices of Ren Jun to bring military strength to bear as well. I ask you quickly to be diligent together in the hauling of grain, to send off the transport boats one after another, and to arrive in a line before the Commander-in-chief's army, so that the recovery of the capital and its palace gates may be set for an early day. Xuzhou is truly a worm in the state. How should the grudge stop with its neighbors? Heaven for a while makes room for villainy, and the earth still gathers wickedness there. Long ago, when Pang Xun rebelled, his palace should have been turned into a pond at once. Lately, with Shi Pu running mad, the place ought to be smeared on the ground again. It happened that the court has not yet cut down the great villain and so does not ask after a small flaw. Valuing the pleasure of the troops, it suddenly added titles and rewards. Yet Shi Pu does not follow the imperial order and still weaves villainous schemes. Last year he offended against Huaishan, and this summer he raided the Si River again. He has become Huang Chao's support from outside and has long hindered the advance of the several circuits. The jackals and wolves that block the road must be scoured away first. Only then can the mole crickets and ants that breach the dike be destroyed. I hope the new road of the Sui emperor may have its willows holding the spring, and that the old home country of the Han founder may not have thorn and bramble beating upon the ground. All who have received a charge in favor, look to your loyalty together. Respectfully announced.