《资治通鉴·汉纪·汉纪五十六》
崔琰回答说： 如今天下分崩离析，袁氏兄弟自相残杀，冀州的百姓陷于水深火热之中，死尸遍布原野而无人掩埋。如今朝廷大军进驻冀州，没有听到有慰问民间疾苦，拯救百姓的举动，反而先计算兵员的数量，唯独将此放在首位，这岂是敝州百姓对您的期望呢！ 
琰对曰： 今九州幅裂，二袁兄弟亲寻干戈，冀方蒸庶，暴骨原野，未闻王师存问风俗，救其涂炭，而校计甲兵，唯此为先，斯岂鄙州士女所望于明公哉！ 
Cui Yan responded by saying: Today the world is falling apart, the Yuan brothers are killing each other, and the people of Jizhou are suffering greatly, with dead bodies strewn across the fields and no one to bury them. Now the imperial army has entered Jizhou, and I have not heard of any actions to console the people's suffering or save them, but instead the first thing you have done is to count the number of soldiers, putting this above all else – is this what the people of my state expected of you?