Sui and Tang · Official and Strategist

Wang Ju 王琚

Attested AD 710 - AD 762

Passages: 28
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Wang Ju was an official and Strategist.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Nickname	inner chancellor	內宰相

Life and dates

Death

Strangled after taking poison · Agent Person Id Luo Xiyi (羅希奭)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 159

Attested activity

AD 713 先天二年七月
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 135
AD 742 to AD 756 天寶時
Dated from the passage context · New Book of Tang 121, passage 152
AD 762 寶應元年
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 163
AD 710 睿宗立
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 107

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Kin of Wang Yinke (王隱客)
father's cousin 從父 · paternal line
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 103
Child of Mother of Wang Ju
mother 母
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 161
Spouse of Wife of Wang Ju
wife 妻
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 106

Career and standing

Vice Director of the Secretariat 中書侍郎
Appointed
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 132
Entered
Fugitive
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 106

Places and affiliations

Polity Tang 唐 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · New Book of Tang 121, passage 101
At Henei in Huaizhou 懷州河內
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 101

Learning and skills

Skill astronomy 天文象緯
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 102

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · With Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (唐玄宗)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passages 118-121, 123-125, 127

Events and relationships

Led
AD 713 先天二年七月 · Coup · Commander
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passages 135, 137
Assassination plot · Conspirator · With Wu Sansi (武三思)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 105
Relation Friend of · Person Li Yong (李邕)
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 157

Assessments and attributes

Assessment guiltless · Mode named-source-report
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 160

Source notes

inner chancellor 內宰相
Statement Contemporaries called him the inner chancellor
Directly stated · New Book of Tang 121, passage 142

References in the histories

Search passages

History

28 passages

New Book of Tang, Chapter 121Volume 121 Biographies 46: Liu, Zhong, Cui, and the Two Kings · 28 passages

王琚，懷州河內人。 Wang Ju came from Henei in Huaizhou.

會謀刺武三思，琚義其為，即與周璟、張仲之等共計。 When a plot formed to kill Wu Sansi, Ju embraced the cause and joined Zhou Jing, Zhang Zhongzhi, and others in planning it.

事泄亡命，自傭於揚州富商家，識非庸人，以女嫁之，厚給以貲，琚亦賴以濟。 After the plot leaked he fled and hired himself to a rich Yangzhou merchant, who saw his quality, married him to his daughter, and supported him handsomely.

睿宗立，琚自言本末，主人厚賫使還長安。 At Ruizong's accession he told his full story; his patron sent him back to Chang'an with generous gifts.

玄宗為太子，閑遊獵韋、杜間，怠休樹下，琚以儒服見，且請過家，太子許之。 As crown prince, Xuanzong hunted between Wei and Du; resting under a tree, he met Ju in scholar's robes, who invited him home, and the prince agreed.

自是每到韋、杜，輒止其廬。 After that, whenever he hunted in Wei and Du, he stopped at Ju's house.

琚是時方補諸暨縣主簿，過謝東宮，至廷中，徐行高視，侍衛何止曰：「太子在！」 Ju had just become chief clerk of Zhuji and came to thank the heir apparent; in the courtyard he walked slowly, looking about boldly, until an attendant cried, "The crown prince is here!"

琚怒曰：「在外惟聞太平公主，不聞有太子。 Ju snapped, "Out there people talk only of Princess Taiping, not of a crown prince.

太子遽召見，琚曰：「韋氏躬行弒逆，天下動搖，人思李氏，故殿下取之易也。 The prince summoned him at once; Ju said, "The Wei clan murdered the emperor and shook the realm; men longed for the Li, so you seized power easily.

琚曰：「昔漢蓋主供養昭帝，其後與上官桀謀殺霍光，不及天子，而帝猶以大義去之。 Ju said, "Under Han, Princess Gai raised Emperor Zhao, then plotted with Shangguan Jie against Huo Guang; though she never touched the throne, the emperor removed her on principle.

琚曰：「臣善丹沙，且工諧隱，願比優人。」 Ju answered, "I know alchemy and merry disguise; let me pass as a court entertainer."

翌日授詹事府司直、內供奉，兼崇文學士。 The next day Ju was made rectifier of the heir's household, inner attendant, and scholar of the Chongwen Institute.

日以諸王及姜皎等入侍，獨琚常豫秘謀。 Princes and Jiang Jiao attended daily, but only Ju shared the secret counsel.

太子受內禪，擢中書侍郎。 When the prince took the inner abdication, Ju was promoted to vice director of the Secretariat.

久之，琚見事迫，請帝決策。 As danger mounted, Ju urged the emperor to act.

少選，琚從帝至樓下，誅蕭至忠、岑義、竇懷貞，斬常元楷李慈北闕下、賈膺福李猷於內客省。 Soon Ju followed the emperor below the tower; Xiao Zhizhong, Cen Yi, and Dou Huaizhen were killed, Chang Yuankai and Li Ci beheaded at the northern gate, Jia Yingfu and Li You in the inner service office.

事平，琚進戶部尚書、封趙國公，皎工部尚書、楚國公，毛仲輔國大將軍、霍國公，守一太常卿、晉國公，各食實戶五百； After victory Ju became minister of revenue and Duke of Zhao; Jiang Jiao minister of works and Duke of Chu; Wang Maozhong general who assists the state and Duke of Huo; Wang Shouyi minister of sacrifices and Duke of Jin—each with five hundred fief households;

琚、皎、令問辭不就，以舊官增戶二百。 Ju, Jiang Jiao, and Li Lingwen declined the new posts and kept their old ranks with two hundred added households.

帝於琚眷委特異，豫大政事，時號「內宰相」。 The emperor relied on Ju as on no other, consulting him on great affairs; contemporaries called him the "inner chancellor."

或說帝曰：「王琚、麻嗣宗皆譎詭縱橫，可與履危，不可與共安。 Some told the emperor, "Wang Ju and Ma Sizong are cunning adventurers—useful in crisis, dangerous in peace.

帝悟，稍疏之。 The emperor took the point and drew back from Ju.

琚自以立勛，至天寶時為舊臣，性豪侈，其處方面，去故就新，受饋遺至數百萬，侍兒數十，寶帳備具，闔門三百口。 Having earned his place among the founding ministers, by Tianbao Ju lived lavishly; in every posting he moved on to fresh appointments, took bribes in the millions, kept dozens of concubines, and maintained a household of three hundred.

李邕故與琚善，皆華首外遷，書疏往復，以譴謫留落為慊。 Li Yong, his old friend, was likewise exiled in old age; they wrote often, lamenting their fall.

右相李林甫恨琚恃功使氣，欲除之，使人劾發琚宿贓，削封階，貶江華員外司馬。 Li Linfu, resenting Ju's arrogance, had him impeached for old corruption, stripped his rank and fief, and demoted him to assistant magistrate of Jianghua.

又使羅希奭深按其罪，琚懼，仰藥，未及死，希奭縊之。 Luo Xiyi pressed the case; Ju took poison, and before it killed him Xiyi strangled him.

始，琚為中書侍郎，母居洛陽，來京師，讓琚曰：「爾家上世皆州縣職，今汝無攻城野戰勞，以謅佞取容，海內切齒，吾恐汝家墳墓無人復掃除也。」 When Ju was vice director, his mother came from Luoyang and rebuked him: "Our forebears held only local office; you won favor by flattery without battlefield merit—the realm despises you, and I fear no one will tend our graves."

琚卒不免。 In the end Ju could not escape her warning.

贊曰：幽求之謀，紹京之果，日用之智，琚之辯，皆足濟危紓難，方多故時，必資以成功者也。 The commentator says: Youqiu's plots, Shaojing's boldness, Riyong's wit, and Ju's eloquence all availed in crisis; in troubled times such gifts win the day.