瑗 Yuàn

His son was Yuan. Edit

Yuan, Prince of Lujiang Commandery, styled Degui, was made a prince in the Wude period as was the rule, and rose through several posts to Right Vice Director of the Branch Department of State Affairs of Shannan East Circuit. He joined Xiaogong, Prince of Hejian, in the campaign against Xiao Xian, but won no merit. He was then made Area Commander-in-chief of Youzhou. Yuan had always been timid, and the court feared he would not be equal to the post, so it sent Wang Junkuo, General of the Right Army Guard, to go with him as his aide. Junkuo had once been a bandit, and his courage was beyond other men's. Yuan relied on him, promised a marriage alliance with him, and confided in him completely. Edit

At that time the Crown Prince Yin had a secret plot afoot and had cultivated Yuan generously. When the Crown Prince died, Taizong ordered Cui Dunli, Secretarial Receptionist, to summon Yuan, and Yuan feared some trap. Junkuo was treacherous at heart and wanted to entrap Yuan by a ruse and win merit for himself, so he said to Yuan: "No one can tell how things will turn out. Your Highness is a close kinsman of the dynasty, charged with guarding the frontier and commanding a hundred thousand troops; will you answer the summons of a single envoy? Besides, the Prince of Zhao Commandery was earlier handed over to the law officers, and now the same has happened to the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi. Is Your Highness strong enough to protect yourself?" And he wept. Yuan believed him and said, "I entrust my life to you." He then imprisoned Dunli, put his troops in order, and summoned Wang Shen, Prefect of North Yan Prefecture, to plan with him. Wang Lishe, Administrator of the Military Section, advised Yuan: "If Your Highness now raises troops on your own without an edict, that is rebellion. You must find a way to win men's hearts. If the prefects are summoned and do not come, how will you keep yourself safe?" Yuan said, "What should I do?" He replied: "The bold men east of the mountains were once employed by Dou Jiande. Now they have lost their posts and are no different from registered commoners or barbarians, and they long for disorder as the parched long for rain. If Your Highness sends out envoys to restore them all to their former posts, and lets them raise troops wherever they are, with power to put to death at once any who will not follow, then the land north of the Yellow River can be had in a single breath. Then send Wang Shen to make an alliance with the Turks outside, and go south from Taiyuan toward Pu and Jiang, while Your Highness readies your carriage and enters the passes from the west. When the two armies join, the realm will be settled in less than a month." Yuan followed his advice and put all his troops, inside and outside the city, in Junkuo's hands. Lishe, because Junkuo was so often two-faced, asked that the troops be put under Shen, and Yuan hesitated. Junkuo secretly learned of this, rode off at speed and cut off Shen's head, and showed it to the army, saying: "Li Yuan and Wang Shen have rebelled, imprisoned the imperial envoy and called up troops on their own authority. Now Shen has been beheaded and only Yuan is left, and he can do nothing. If you follow him, your clans will be wiped out; those who help me can win wealth and honor!" The troops said, "We wish to strike the rebel." So Dunli was let out of prison. When Yuan heard of it, he came out in armor at the head of several hundred of his attendants. Junkuo called out: "Yuan is a rebel and you have all been misled; why follow him and bring slaughter on yourselves?" The men turned and ran. Yuan cursed Junkuo: "You petty man have sold me, and the same will come to you soon enough!" Yuan was seized and strangled, and his head was sent to the capital. He was deposed and made a commoner, and his name was struck from the register of the imperial clan. Edit