Chapter 104: Enfeoffed as King

Because of the distance, though the Swallow-the-Hu General's memorial had been sped along by swift horse, it still reached Chang'an several days later than Anding Commandery's report.

And the grand spectacle of Liangqiu Ci and the Anding Attendant Prefect beheading two Lu Fang heads — that, at least, did not make it to the capital. Simply because the Swallow-the-Hu General ultimately backed down, recounting only that Liangqiu Ci had commanded skillfully and, together with Diwu Lun, had struck down the Maqu chieftain and captured Left Valley; what he sent was the head of Lu Fang's younger brother, Lu Cheng — and this one was genuine.

Think on it and it becomes clear: the Grand Governor of Anding Commandery was, after all, the Emperor's cousin; if they fought, who would come out worse was uncertain. If the conflict were dragged into the open and provoked the Son of Heaven's thunderous wrath, prompting the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties to investigate, then all the shady dealings in this pacification campaign would surely be exposed without a doubt — and that would do the army no good either.

Within the office of the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties, Kong Ren, who was specifically charged with overseeing the frontier, reported to Chen Chong: "In the Swallow-the-Hu General's memorial, Liangqiu Ci is credited with the highest merit, and Diwu Lun next. It says that when the bandits raided the grain supplies, he rescued allied troops, held Tewu County, ensured timely grain and fodder supply during months of garrison, furthermore sought out a great traitor, captured Lu Cheng, and exposed Lu Fang's rebellion."

"Afterwards, he followed Liangqiu Ci on the campaign against Lu Fang, served as the vanguard, and achieved considerable battle merit."

Kong Ren said with some anxiety, "My lord, Diwu Lun is likely to be promoted in rank again."

Though the people of Chang'an sing "Fighting hard is not as good as crafting a clever memorial," that is slander! The Xin bestows very generous rewards on those who distinguish themselves in pacifying rebellions. Take, for instance, the Western Sea campaign before Wang Mang's abdication and replacement, or the rebellions of Zhai Yi and at Huaili: those who took part in quelling the unrest were enfeoffed as high as Marquis and Count, next as Viscount and Baron, and with the addition of Inner Vassal, those who gained noble rank numbered in the hundreds. Dou Rong, a subordinate of Grand Minister of Works Wang Yi, obtained the title of "Jianwu Baron."

Before the expedition, Diwu Lun had already won Wang Mang's favor by wearing the yellow headscarf and speaking pleasingly, and was granted the rank of Vassal. This time, in a border campaign where several Majors and Company Commanders had died under mysterious circumstances, he alone performed with marked distinction — promotion is all but certain.

Kong Ren could only feel that there was something fishy about this, but the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties might swagger about in the Six Precincts of the capital, yet out on the frontier they were worth less than a fart. After all, the Xin Dynasty's grassroots had already fallen into this sorry state; once they left Chang'an, their sharp ears seemed to go deaf, their keen eyes seemed to go blind.

Even though Kong Ren was responsible for supervising frontier military affairs on Wang Mang's behalf and charged with rooting out treachery, he could only rely on the secret reports of subordinates planted at the front lines — and he could see no problem with Diwu Lun.

But the office of the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties had its ways. A man with no problems — they could still dig up problems!

"Master of Fates Kong, why do you always have it in for Diwu Lun?"

Chen Chong was utterly unconcerned; instead he laughed. "What harm is there in letting him rise smoothly in rank?"

Kong Ren was struck speechless. The office of the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties had indirectly driven Diwu Lun's teacher Yang Xiong to his death. Though it was never spoken of openly, Diwu Boyu surely remembered that grudge. By Master of Fates Chen's usual methods, shouldn't they eliminate future trouble?

And the higher Diwu Lun climbed, the more he drew the Emperor's notice and favor, the harder it would be for them to strike from the shadows.

Chen Chong, however, thought nothing of it. "Let him rise."

"Let him stand out from the crowd."

"His Majesty lacks precisely such a capable commander. Best if he is singled out by name, and Diwu Lun is ordered to follow the Swallow-the-Hu General two thousand li beyond the frontier to strike the Hu!"

"Master of Fates Chen, a brilliant stratagem indeed — is this not driving a jackal into a tiger's mouth?"

Kong Ren had a sudden revelation and took his leave to carry out the order. Chen Chong merely found Kong Ren's vision too narrow, fixated day after day on a minor figure like Diwu Lun. Little did he know that the Marquis of Tongmu had lately concentrated all his energies on a plan that could not be spoken of to anyone — one that, if ever leaked, would see him boiled alive in five cauldrons.

But if it succeeded, his future, Chen Chong's, would be far more than feasting from five cauldrons! When that time came, a tiny Diwu Lun could be killed with a flick of a finger — not even worth mentioning.

It had been half a month since Chen Chong, both openly and covertly, had conveyed to His Majesty the Emperor those sordid matters concerning the Crown Prince Wang Lin.

Why was there still no stir from the Wanglu Hall?

By evening, Wang Mang, who had kept silent for ten days, finally spoke — like a thunderclap!

"On the day renwu of the seventh month, at the hour of bu, there came a fierce gale, thunder, and rain that tore off roofs and snapped trees — a calamitous portent."

"I am greatly disturbed by it, I am greatly terrified by it, I am greatly fearful of it!"

His Majesty the Emperor did not accept Ai Zhang's sycophantic argument that "a fierce gale is an auspicious omen, not a calamitous portent." Instead, he drew a lesson from the pain and earnestly reflected on the cause.

And at last, he found it!

"When I was Acting Emperor, I received a mandate omen text called the 'Purple Pavilion Diagram.' Within it, it said that my third son, Wang An, should be made King of Xinqian, and that my fourth son, Wang Lin, should establish a state at Luoyang and become King of Tongyiyang."

"At the time, I modestly declined and did not presume to accept, enfeoffing the two merely as Dukes. Later, the golden casket text descended from heaven and reiterated these words."

"I made the mandate omen public in the court, and all the ministers said: 'For Wang Lin to establish a state at Luoyang as King of Tongyiyang means he holds the center of all under heaven and can carry on the ancestral temple of the Xin — it is fitting that he be made Crown Prince.'"

"I therefore followed the ministers' counsel. Because Wang An was rather muddled and negligent, he was enfeoffed as Lord of Xinjia. Wang Lin was made Crown Prince. In the third year of Shijianguo, four teachers and four companions were appointed for him, and nine Libationers were established, with stipends equivalent to Upper Ministers. My sole hope was that the Crown Prince would be filial, fraternal, and versed in the classics, so that one day he might inherit the great throne."

"But ever since then, the Crown Prince has been long afflicted with illness. Though he later recovered, he has not fully regained his health. When entering the palace for an audience, he must still ride in a small litter borne by Yellow Gate attendants. And he has long been without an heir."

"Recently the Empress fell ill. The Crown Prince, in pure filial devotion, entered the palace to tend to her and lodged in the western wing. It happened that the fierce gale destroyed the western wing of the Wanglu Hall and the rear pavilion changing chamber. I was greatly alarmed. Moreover, the Marquis of Shuofu submitted a memorial reporting that the moon had trespassed against the star before the Heart. I am greatly troubled by this."

"I shut my door and pondered for ten days. Looking again at the 'Purple Pavilion Diagram,' I finally grasped the meaning — the confusion is now resolved!"

Whenever Wang Mang sank into contemplation, all under heaven would be thrown into panic — and this time was no exception. The words that followed in the edict struck everyone in the court numb with shock.

"What is meant by 'King of Xinqian' is the one who comes after the Grand Unity's new migration. 'King of Tongyiyang' means using the Five Successions with ritual propriety, ascending in righteousness to the place above the thousand after yang."

"The counsel the ministers gave that year contained an error. Wang Lin has an elder brother above him, yet he was called Crown Prince — his title and station are not correct. Duke Xuan Ni said: 'If the name is not correct, the words will not flow smoothly.' This leads to punishments being unjust and the common people not knowing where to put their hands and feet."

"Since I assumed the throne, yin and yang have been out of harmony, wind and rain untimely. Several times we have encountered the disasters of drought, locusts, and borers; grain harvests have diminished; the barbarians have harassed the Central Lands; bandits and evildoers spring up everywhere; the hundred surnames are fearful and uneasy. I have deeply pondered these offenses, and they stem precisely from the name not being correct. We must set right what has been disordered. Now I establish Wang An as King of Xinqian, and change the appointment of Crown Prince Wang Lin — he shall be King of Tongyiyang!"

"My painstaking intent in this is to preserve both my sons, so that their descendants may number in the thousands of millions, so that the Xin may externally subdue the four barbarians and internally bring peace to the Central Kingdom!"

The edict was read in full. The assembled ministers were shaken. To shift all the blame for over a decade's problems onto the Crown Prince — such a maneuver was utterly unheard of. Truly, this was worthy of Wang Mang, who had already done away with two of his sons.

Chen Chong, the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties, who had been waiting many days for this, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. But the State Preceptor, Liu Xin, was instantly turned to stone.

Liu Xin was the father-in-law of the Crown Prince Wang Lin — the pillar of the Crown Prince faction.

As Wang Mang's closest friend of former days, Liu Xin understood the Emperor all too well. He knew his old friend's obstinacy; rushing to remonstrate would only backfire.

So when Wang Mang, heedless of the bandits springing up everywhere within the realm, insisted on fighting the wars against the Xiongnu and the southwestern barbarians to the bitter end, Liu Xin said nothing.

When Wang Mang began to act perversely, at the cost of the common people's suffering, offending the powerful families, the officials, and indeed every class in the entire realm, repeatedly raising levies to supply the state's expenditures, Liu Xin said nothing.

Even when Yang Xiong died, though Liu Xin felt the grief of the fox when the hare dies, he kept his silence and did not speak half a word on Yang Ziyun's behalf.

The ideals of former days had long since veered far off course. For ten years now, Liu Xin had lived with inward dread. He had watched the Zhen father and son die for plotting treason; he had watched the Duke of Anxin, Wang Shun, die of worry; the Grand Minister of Works, Wang Yi, was kept idle at court and unused. The Duke Who Pacifies the Han, the Acting Emperor who once humbly received worthy scholars, had twisted into a paranoid tyrant who clutched power and refused to let go.

Liu Xin himself no longer held any hope for Wang Mang. All his expectations rested on his own son-in-law, the Crown Prince Wang Lin. At least Wang Lin was someone who could be reasoned with in the ordinary way.

He had only to wait for the Emperor to pass away, for the Crown Prince to succeed to the throne, and then, with his own assistance, purge the court of petty men like Cui Fa and Chen Chong, make peace through marriage with the Xiongnu, halt the policies of the Five Averages and the Six Monopolies, withdraw the border armies, and concentrate on wiping out the bandits within the realm. Perhaps then the tide could still be turned. But...

But today, with this edict issued, Liu Xin's heart had gone utterly cold.

The edict ran on for hundreds of words in a torrent, but peering through the cracks, Liu Xin saw only three words.

"Depose the Crown Prince!"

Liu Xin understood Wang Mang less and less — what exactly did he intend? He had originally thought that Wang Mang's swift and decisive action last year, forcing the "Holy Grandson," the Duke of Gongchong, Wang Zong, to commit suicide, was to pave the way for Wang Lin and avert a succession struggle.

But now, under the banner of rectifying names, he had stripped Wang Lin of his position as Crown Prince. Could it be that he meant to let that fool of a son, Wang An, inherit the great succession?

The assembled ministers kept their silence. By now, no matter how incomprehensible the edict, not a single person stepped forward to speak half a word for the Crown Prince — this was the inertia built up over more than ten years: the Emperor's commands, no matter how unreasonable, must be carried out.

And Liu Xin, too, uttered not a word. Holding his tablet before him with both hands, he only felt a little dizzy.

The Crown Prince, Wang Lin, had likewise not expected this day to come so swiftly. After standing stunned for a long moment, he dragged his sickly body forward and presented the Crown Prince's seal and cord, exchanging them for the seal of "King of Tongyiyang."

Wang An, who was a simpleton to begin with, drooled as two Yellow Gate attendants supported him forward to receive the seal and cord of King of Xinqian.

After this was accomplished, the Emperor pressed on without pause, announcing that the Pacifying and Swallowing Hu Generals had exterminated the rebel Lu Fang, issuing rewards, and decreeing that Grand Marshal Dong Zhong oversee the assessment of military merits and rank them in order.

"Lu Fang, of Qiang and Hu stock, falsely claimed the Liu surname and managed to deceive several hundred foolish men and women into following him in rebellion. Fortunately, the Swallowing Hu General and Anding Commandery struck and wiped them out in one blow. Lu Fang's head now hangs from the northern watchtower, leaving no lingering threat behind."

"The ancients said: let rewards not outlast the hour, so that the people may swiftly see the benefit of doing good."

"In former days, those who struck the Western Sea bore 'Qiang' as their title; those who pacified Huaili bore 'Wu' as their title; those who swept away Zhai Yi bore 'Lu' as their title."

"Now Lu Fang in his rebellion styled himself Left Guli King — as his name suggests, a mere little insect. Therefore, those who quelled the rebellion shall bear 'Li' as their title."

"The Magistrate of Anding, who took Lu Fang's head, merits the first achievement. He is enfeoffed as Count, with the title 'Li-Sweeping Count.'"

"Colonel Liangqiu Ci, who broke through Left Valley, merits the second achievement. He is enfeoffed as Viscount, with the title 'Li-Pacifying Viscount.'"

"Diwu Lun, who followed the campaign against the bandits, is enfeoffed as Baron, with the title 'Li-Quelling Baron.'"

These titles upheld the grand tradition of the Great Xin — unbearably ugly, and in any case carrying no actual stipend, only nominal enfieffment. The sole difference was that Diwu Lun now stood out from over two thousand attached cities of the Xin Dynasty and had joined the ranks of the "Barons," which numbered as many as six or seven hundred.

After the rewards were proclaimed, the assembled ministers shouted "Ten thousand years!" Master of Fates Kong Ren seized the moment to propose that this pacification campaign had proven the fighting ability of Colonel Liangqiu Ci and Diwu Lun, and that their auxiliary battalions should be converted to regulars and assigned to the Swallowing Hu General's great army, soon to strike deep into the Xiongnu heartland.

By all reason, the Emperor would have followed good counsel, but this time was different. He rejected Kong Ren's malicious proposal and merely ordered that when Swallowing Hu General Han Wei set out, Diwu Lun should remain in Tewu County to rest and reorganize.

Wang Mang had the Inner Palace Attendant explain the reason: "The rebels Lu Fang, Ma Qushuai, and the rest were utterly vicious and heinous. The Li-Quelling Baron served as the vanguard and fought them in bloody battle for days on end, suffering grievous losses. How can we order these exhausted troops to march beyond the frontier and strike the Hu? I will not take such a course!"

Kong Ren was full of doubt. Chen Chong shook his head at him. Only after they returned to the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties' residence did Kong Ren learn that the memorial sent by the Swallowing Hu General had included Diwu Lun's casualty report from this pacification campaign — something they had not known beforehand.

Diwu Lun stated in the memorial that, in order to exterminate the utterly vicious and heinous rebel bandits, his troops had suffered grievous losses: Heaven have pity — two battalions at full strength of two thousand men now numbered only twelve hundred, a loss of forty percent. Truly disastrous!

Could such a crippled force be sent beyond the frontier to fight the Xiongnu? Better to let those troops that had marched and fought across thousands of li, been stationed for months, and yet miraculously remained at full strength go instead!

Kong Ren's scalp went numb at once. He felt Diwu Lun was simply too crafty. Armies always underreported their losses to swindle empty-ration grain; he had never seen anyone like Diwu Lun, who operated in reverse and reported his true numbers.

In short, it came down to one sentence: "I'm not eating these empty rations!"

"You want to send me to fight the Xiongnu as cannon fodder? No way!"

…

PS: Chapter 2 at 18:00.