Background

Pei Ji was from Pu Province (蒲州, roughly modern Yuncheng, Shanxi), under Northern Zhou rule during the time of his birth. He was from "The Western Juan Pei" of the prominent Pei clan of Hedong. His father died early, and he was raised by his older brother. When he was 13, he began serving as the secretary to a commandery governor. He was described to be handsome and having a working knowledge of literature. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, he became an officer in the guard corps, but was said to be so poor that, in order to report to the capital Chang'an for duty, he had to walk there.

During the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, he served successively as the census officer of Qi Province (齊州, roughly modern Jinan, Shandong), personal secretary to Emperor Yang, and then the deputy head of the household at Emperor Yang's secondary palace at Jinyang (晉陽, in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi). He had already been friendly with Li Yuan the Duke of Tang, the general in charge at Taiyuan (i.e., Jinyang) previously, and when they were both posted to Taiyuan, Pei and Li became particularly close, often feasting together. He also allowed Li Yuan to, against strict laws, have sexual relations with some of the ladies in waiting at Jinyang Palace, assumed by some historians as the main reason to rebel against Sui dynasty due to fear of severe punishment from the Emperor.

Participation in Li Yuans rebellion

Meanwhile, Li Yuan's son Li Shimin and Liu Wenjing, the Jinyang County magistrate, were plotting to rebel against Sui rule, but initially neither dared to discuss the matter with Li Yuan. They saw that Pei was closest to Li Yuan, and therefore had their confederate Gao Binlian (高斌廉) gamble with Pei and intentionally lose to him. After Gao got sufficiently close to Pei, he informed Pei of Li Shimin's and Liu's plot, and managed to persuade Pei to join. Pei, in turn, persuaded Li Yuan that he had to rebel against Emperor Yang. Li Yuan agreed, and did so in summer 617. Once he did, Pei, who had considerably personal wealth and further had control of the storage facility, offered a large supply of rice, silk, and armor, as well as 500 ladies in waiting, to Li Yuan. On Li Yuan's subsequent march toward Chang'an, Pei served as Li Yuan's secretary, and Li Yuan created him the Duke of Wenxi.

Later in 617, Li Yuan was attacking Hedong (河東, in modern Yuncheng) but could not capture it quickly, and there were rumors that Eastern Tujue and a rebel ruler it supported, Liu Wuzhou the Dingyang Khan, would attack Taiyuan. At that time, Pei advocated withdrawing back to Taiyuan and defend it. Li Shimin and another son of Li Yuan, Li Jiancheng, however believed that retreat would lead to inevitable defeat and therefore successfully persuaded Li Yuan not to retreat. Instead, per Pei's suggestions, after Li Yuan subsequently defeated Sui forces at Huoyi (霍邑, also in modern Yuncheng), he left part of his army to siege Hedong, while himself crossing the Yellow River into Guanzhong (i.e., the Chang'an region). After Li Yuan captured Chang'an later that year and declared Emperor Yang's grandson Yang You the Prince of Dai emperor (as Emperor Gong), he himself served as regent, and he awarded Pei with fields, a mansion, and the title of Duke of Wei.

During Emperor Gaozus reign

In 618, Emperor Yang was killed in a coup at Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) led by the general Yuwen Huaji. When news of Emperor Yang's death reached Chang'an, Li Yuan had Yang You yield the throne to him, establishing Tang Dynasty as its Emperor Gaozu. When he took the throne, he stated to Pei Ji, "The person who brought me here is you, Duke." He made Pei the Right Shangshu Puye (尚書僕射), one of the two deputy heads of the executive bureau of the government (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng) -- a post that (at least in later times) was considered a post for a chancellor, and bestowed Pei with great treasures. He also commissioned Pei and Liu Wenjing to revise the Sui laws. Soon, however, Pei and Liu, who were previously friends, became enemies over their conflicting suggestions, and Liu was dissatisfied that he was ranked below Pei. Subsequently, Liu was accused of using witchcraft to try to change his situation, and while Li Shimin and the officials Xiao Yu and Li Gang (李綱) all argued that Liu was not committing treason and should be spared, Emperor Gaozu, at Pei's suggestion, nevertheless executed Liu.

In 619, Liu Wuzhou captured Taiyuan, forcing Emperor Gaozu's son Li Yuanji the Prince of Qi to flee. Liu then advanced south deep into Tang territory. Pei volunteered to lead the army against Liu. However, when he engaged Liu's general Song Jin'gang (宋金剛) at Dusuo Plain (度索原, in modern Jinzhong, Shanxi), Song cut off his water supplies and then defeated him, and he lost most of his soldiers. He had to flee to Pingyang (平陽, in modern Linfen, Shanxi). He sent a submission to Emperor Gaozu, requesting to be punished, but Emperor Gaozu did not punish him and continued to keep him in command of the forces in the region. However, Pei, who was described to be fearful and not a capable general, was reduced to ordering the people into fortified cities, leaving the countryside for Liu to control and causing the dissatisfied people to rebel against Tang. The situation became sufficiently severe that Emperor Gaozu considered abandoning the entire modern Shanxi region. Li Shimin, however, argued that was inadvisable, and he led an army against Liu and Song, gradually fighting back and defeating Liu in 620, forcing Liu to flee to Eastern Tujue. Meanwhile, Emperor Gaozu summoned Pei back to Chang'an and put him under arrest briefly, but soon released him and continued to honor him. When Emperor Gaozu was away from Chang'an, he often had Pei in charge of the capital in his absence. In 621, when Emperor Gaozu began minting new coins, he bestowed one mint press on Pei, allowing Pei to mint his own money, and he also took a daughter of Pei's to be the wife and princess of his son Li Yuanjing (李元景) the Prince of Zhao. (Li Shimin and Li Yuanji, who were each granted three presses, were the only other individuals permitted to mint their own money.) During the years, Pei offered several times to retire, and in 626, Emperor Gaozu granted him the honorific title of Sikong (司空) and allowed him to effectively retire, but further continued to set up rotations of junior officials from the executive bureau who would attend to Pei on a daily basis.

During Emperor Taizongs reign

In 626, Li Shimin, then locked in an intense rivalry with Li Jiancheng (who, as the older brother, was crown prince), feared that Li Jiancheng was about to kill him, and ambushed Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji (who supported Li Jiancheng) at Xuanwu Gate and killed them. He then effectively forced Emperor Gaozu to create him crown prince and then yield the throne to him (as Emperor Taizong). Although Pei Ji appeared to have supported Li Jiancheng in the struggle, Emperor Taizong initially continued to honor him, and on one occasion, when Emperor Taizong was offering sacrifices to heaven outside the capital, he requested Pei and Zhangsun Wuji to ride with him in the imperial wagon, a great honor at the time.

In 629, however, when the Buddhist monk Faya (法雅) was accused to have spread false teachings (probably treasonous teachings) to the people and was executed, Pei was accused of having heard of the false teachings but not reported it, and therefore was removed from his honorific title of Sikong and ordered to retire to his home in Pu Prefecture. When Pei requested to stay at Chang'an, Emperor Taizong rebuked him:

:Duke, your contributions were not commensurate with your position; you only rose to this honored position due to your relationship with Taishang Huang Emperor Gaozu, now retired emperor). There were times during the reign of Wude Emperor Gaozu's era name) when the government was corrupt and poorly run, and it was your fault. Now I am allowing you to return to your home. Why do you complain?

Once Pei returned to Pu Prefecture, an insane man named Xin Xing (信行) stated to one of Pei's servants that he believed that Pei would be emperor. When Pei's servant reported this to the head servant, and the head servant in turn informed Pei, Pei, fearful, had Xin and the junior servant killed. Subsequently, the head servant embezzled money from Pei and feared punishment, and therefore reported the incident to Emperor Taizong. In anger, Emperor Taizong stated:

:Pei Ji has four deadly crimes. One, even though he was one of the Three Excellencies, he associated with witches. Second, after he was removed from his post, he angrily stated that the empire rose only because of him. Third, he failed to disclose the wicked words. Four, he killed people to stop them from speaking. I have reasons to execute him.

Many people spoke on Pei's behalf, and Emperor Taizong did not execute him, but exiled him to Jing Prefecture (靜州, roughly modern Heishui county in Aba Prefecture, Sichuan - see Jiu Tang Shu Ch Ch 45). At that time, the Qiang tribesmen in the region rebelled, and rumor arrived at Chang'an that they had taken Pei to be their leader. Emperor Taizong responded, "I have spared Pei, and he will surely not do this." Soon, news arrived that Pei had led his servants in defeating the Qiang. Emperor Taizong, remembering Pei's contributions, issued an order recalling him to the capital, but before he could do so, Pei died. Emperor Taizong granted him a number of posthumous honors, including the title of Duke of Hedong.

Notes and references

• Old Book of Tang, vol. 57.https://web.archive.org/web/20071011055105/http://ef.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ccw/02/tan07.htm

• New Book of Tang, vol. 88.https://web.archive.org/web/20080210053058/http://ef.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ccw/02/ntan14.htm

• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 183, 184, 185, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193.

生平

其祖父裴融，父親裴孝瑜。他幼年喪父，由兄長撫養長大。十四歲，補郡主簿。隋朝開皇年間，調左親衛。到了隋煬帝大業年間，為齊州司戶參軍，後任侍御史，駕部承務郎，晉陽宮副監。

大業十三年（617年），反隋軍風起雲湧，隋煬帝在江都任命李淵為太原留守。裴寂與李淵早就相識，二人晝夜飲宴，愈發親密。李淵的二兒子李世民和晉陽縣令劉文靜密謀起兵，謀劃已定，讓裴寂去勸說李淵。他對李淵說：「今盜遍天下，城闔外即戰場，雖徇小節，猶不脫死。若舉義師，不特免禍，且就大功。」于是李淵決定起兵。裴寂馬上進獻宮女五百，米九百萬斛，雜彩五萬段，鎧四十萬首，以供軍用。後李淵建大將軍府，裴寂為長史，封聞喜縣公。攻下長安後，賜裴寂良田千頃、甲第一區、物四萬段，轉為大丞相府長史，封魏國公，食邑三千戶。

此後，隋煬帝在江都被殺，裴寂又積極幫助李淵受禪稱帝，世稱唐高祖。李淵即位後，對裴寂說：「使我至此者，公也。」拜為尚書右僕射，賜御膳。唐高祖曾有詔書說，秦王李世民及裴寂、劉文靜三人為太原元謀功臣，「特恕二死」（赦免兩次死罪）。

武德二年（619年），劉武周進攻太原，裴寂自告奮勇，被封為晉州道行軍總管前去討賊，可是被打得大敗，後被李淵召回，關押起來，可是不久又放了，待遇如初。武德四年（621年），趙王李元景聘娶裴寂的女兒為妃。六年（623年），遷為尚書左僕射，賜宴于含章殿。裴寂不想捲入日趨激烈的權力鬥爭之中，于是向高祖請求「賜骸骨」，想急流勇退。李淵極力挽留，淚濕衣襟，說：「未也，要當相與老爾。公為宗臣，我為太上皇，逍遙晚歲，不亦善乎！」武德九年（626年），冊拜司空，賜實封五百戶，遣尚書員外郎每日一人於裴寂府第當值。

貞觀元年（627年），加實封並前一千五百戶。貞觀二年（628年），唐太宗去南郊祭祀，命裴寂與長孫無忌同升金輅，裴寂辭讓，太宗說：「以公有佐命之勛，無忌亦宣力于朕，同載參乘，非公而誰？」遂同乘而歸。此後不久，因牽連僧人法雅妖言案被免官，削去一半封邑，並放歸故里。裴寂上書請求留住京師，唐太宗說他：「計公勛庸，不至于此，徒以恩澤，特居第一。但以舊情，不能極法，歸掃墳墓，何得複辭？」裴寂沒有辦法，就回蒲州老家去了。又過了不久，汾陰一狂人對裴寂家奴說：「裴公有天分。」裴寂聽了，很害怕，不敢上報，還殺人滅口。事情敗露後，被流放靜州。

貞觀六年，靜州山羌叛亂，起初有人懷疑裴寂會被羌人逼迫參與叛亂，但唐太宗卻相信裴寂深受國恩，不會做出此事，不久過果然聽聞裴寂率家僮平息了叛亂。唐太宗故念裴寂「佐命之功」，詔令還朝，可是他正好得病，在回京的路上死去了。時年六十歲。追贈相州刺史、工部尚書、河東郡公。

其他

李大師年輕時曾經在長安卜問將要做官後的吉凶，遇到了一個姓史的算命先生，于是讓他給自己占卜。當時李大師的堂兄李子同、妹夫鄭師萬、裴寂以宿衛的身份簡選入文職，他們各自讓算命先生看自己當日的官職以及將來能夠達到的官職。史生說：「裴寂和李氏兄弟都應該依照資歷分等級進用，但是裴寂最終將官至三公宰輔之位。鄭師萬不僅今年虛耗後歸家，次年年資會不被評定。」史生指著李大師說：「您的才華雖然不次于趙元叔，恐怕命運也會和他相同。」史生又說李子同也不可能做高官。當時李大師的弟弟李行師也將要被舉薦做官，于是問史生吉凶。史生說：「這個年輕人雖然沒辦法匹敵裴君，也會官至地方首長。」隨後李大師、李子同、裴寂都依資歷補官為州佐。鄭師萬這一年遇到了差錯，次年朝廷不評定北齊的資歷，最後官至益州新都縣尉。武德初年，裴寂出任尚書左僕射，封魏國公。李大師到那時遷徙流離，于是獨自笑著說：「史生的話，在此應驗了。」

子孫

• 第二子：裴律師（出生不遲于622年），嗣河東郡公，尚太宗妹臨海長公主，官至汴州刺史

　• 裴承先，武后時為殿中監，為酷吏所殺

　• 裴承光，檢校左羽林軍將軍、郕國公

　• 裴承祿，右清道率、河東公

　　• 孫：裴景僊，玄宗時為武彊縣知州

• 子：裴法師，將軍、聞喜公

• 女兒：裴氏，嫁李元景

• 女兒：河東縣君裴氏（622年—687年），嫁皇甫文房

注釋