Chapter 13: It's Just Too Difficult

"I've heard a saying: to turn poverty into wealth, farming is no match for craft, and craft is no match for trade."

"I've also heard that merchants seeking profit deploy their wits in every direction, wear fine clothes and eat fine food, and reap a yearly return of two-tenths. The Fourth clan has been in trade for a hundred years — what difficulty could there be?"

Exactly — your family owns a mine, so why pretend to be poor?

When Diwu Lun asked this, Fourth Xian only shook his head and sighed. "A return of two-tenths is just talk. My family's business earns the thinnest of margins..."

At this point he lowered his voice, glanced outside, and leaned closer to Diwu Lun. "Under the former dynasty we could still make a little money. Under the present dynasty, merchants have nearly had their livelihood cut off entirely."

Fourth Xian then poured out his grievances. Under the Six Monopolies prohibitions, not only were salt, iron, and wine made state monopolies, but the produce of famous mountains and great marshes was also heavily taxed. The limestone mine the Fourth clan operated was naturally included — they could only grit their teeth and hand over a crushing tax.

Beyond the extraction rights, the authorities also took one-tenth of the profit as "tribute." According to him, once local payoffs were added, the real rate had already reached twelve- or thirteen-tenths. If someone was caught mining and selling in secret, the business was finished — everything confiscated, plus a year of penal labor as punishment.

This was utterly unlike the late Former Han, when laws were lax and the rivers and marshes were monopolized by local powerful families and great industrialists. But to Diwu Lun's ears, wasn't this only natural? Did they expect to exploit state-owned resources for free? After Wang Mang's reforms, these things had indeed all been nationalized.

"What's even deadlier is the constant switching of the precious currencies."

At this, Fourth Xian grew indignant. "I remember over ten years ago, when the Son of Heaven still bore the surname Liu and His Present Majesty was Acting Emperor, he added the qidao and cuodao coins alongside the wuzhu coins."

Those were the long knife-shaped coins of Warring States Qi. Yet after the Xin Dynasty was founded, Wang Mang turned around and refused to honor them.

"He said the characters mao, jin, and dao form the character Liu, and could no longer be used. The knife coins were abolished after just two years."

But what came next was even more absurd. "In the first year of Shijianguo (AD 9), they issued precious goods, comprising five materials — gold, silver, tortoiseshell, cowrie, and copper — and six names: coin goods, gold goods, silver goods, tortoise goods, cowrie goods, and cloth goods. Altogether, twenty-eight kinds of currency!"

"Twenty-eight kinds." Fourth Xian's tone grew theatrical as he spread all ten fingers. "I am a great merchant, known for shrewdness, able to read and calculate, yet even I cannot remember how the different precious goods convert — let alone common folk who cannot read a single character."

The conversions weren't even all decimal — binary, ternary, and quinary systems were all mixed in, as convoluted as possible. Such a bizarre monetary system was like throwing US dollars, yen, euros, pounds, and renminbi together into the market, from paper notes to coins, creating over a hundred exchange relationships. Even Diwu Lun felt his head spin just hearing it.

Fortunately, those chaotic precious goods were abolished yet again a few years ago, replaced by three new coin types: large, medium, and small.

But this was already the fourth currency reform since Wang Mang took power — truly a case of orders changing at dawn and dusk. Coins usable today might be illegal tomorrow. Where could one go to reason with that?

Fourth Xian sighed with feeling. "Every time the coinage changes, countless common folk are ruined and fall into the clutches of the law. I remember clearly, the last time the coinage changed, those fellow merchants who had already spent great sums of cash and silk to hoard piles of tortoiseshells and cowries, hoping to make a fortune, wept openly in the marketplace. Some went home and hanged themselves from the rafters."

His heart was heavy. "And so, in private, the common people despise the new coins for their complexity, and some still trade with the Han-era wuzhu coins."

After saying this, Fourth Xian hastily denied it. "Of course, an honest small merchant like myself would never dare. The court has a prohibition — anyone who dares to hoard wuzhu coins or trade with them faces severe punishment."

"Thankfully, in the fifth year of Shijianguo, the law banning the carrying of copper and charcoal was repealed. Otherwise, my family couldn't even burn clamshell lime, and we'd probably have to come begging for a meal at Boyu's house."

Fourth Xian finished recounting his experiences with a bitter smile. Now every line of business was blocked, and he'd found he couldn't turn back into a landlord either — after all, land could not be consolidated, slaves could not be sold, and even usury had been taken over by the authorities.

He could only scrape by running the limestone mine, supplying clamshell lime to the government. And because of that accursed "Five Equilibria" system, the officials' offered prices were often pressed extremely low. The margins were so thin he could barely continue.

Diwu Lun caught the undercurrent of discontent with the court in his words. It seemed it wasn't just the landlords — the merchants, too, loathed the new policies to the bone.

And Diwu Lun could only smile wryly. The Xin Dynasty had its own national conditions. His own idea of obtaining grain and iron through commerce looked like a dead end as well.

When night had fallen and the guests had taken their leave one after another, Diwu Ba waited until Fourth Xian was gone, then immediately summoned the household steward. "Were the men Fourth Xian brought with him well-behaved?"

Diwu Ge, who had been watching the Fourth clan members the whole time, reported, "They ate their meal and lay down on the rush mats to sleep. No suspicious movements."

Diwu Lun grew alert. "Grandfather, why do you distrust Fourth Xian so deeply?"

"Hmph. Of what comes out of that man's mouth, only one-tenth can be believed. When dealing with him, you must be doubly careful." Diwu Ba did not wish to elaborate on the reasons, which only made Diwu Lun more curious. Had his grandfather been burned by Fourth Xian before? Just how badly had he been burned, to hold a grudge to this day?

And the next morning, just as the sky was barely beginning to lighten, Fourth Xian had indeed changed into a different set of clothes and was sitting upright in the courtyard of the First clan residence in Linqu Village.

"Those things I told you to have someone hide inside Diwu Village — have they been placed?" First Liu was still pretending to read a scroll, eyes fixed straight ahead, but Fourth Xian's words shattered his composure.

"I didn't place them."

Fourth Xian lifted a heavy bundle and set it on the low table between them.

The white-robed merchant, all of yesterday's rambling gone, stated his position with terse clarity. "Bailiff, I've thought it through. This matter — it cannot be done!"

Inside the cloth bundle were not wine jars, but many small metal pieces that clinked with a pleasing sound. When the bundle was pulled open, it revealed a bulging pouch full of coins — Han dynasty wuzhu coins!

Just yesterday, Fourth Xian had told Diwu Lun that under Xin Dynasty law, anyone using Han-era wuzhu coins violated the prohibitions: commoners were punished with a year of penal labor, and officials were dismissed from their posts.

What he hadn't mentioned was that he still had quite a stash of them!

This was First Liu's scheme to take revenge on Diwu Lun: have the Fourth clan make a pretext of visiting to assist with the rites, smuggle in wuzhu coins, bury them in a hidden spot within Diwu Village, then send someone to trick a foolish Diwu villager into taking the wuzhu coins to the market to use, where the market officials would catch them red-handed...

Then, without needing to show his own face, First Liu could request that the commandery's coin-office officials bring men to search Diwu Village. He would send his own people as guides, and after a chaotic search, they would dig up these wuzhu coins, nailing down the Diwu clan's crime of slandering the precious goods and inciting villagers to use the former dynasty's currency.

It wouldn't cost the Diwu grandfather and grandson their lives, but given the severity of the offense, being carted off in a caged cart with iron chains to Chang'an to do hard labor at the Bell Office was all but certain. When that happened, the Diwu clan's reputation and family estate would both suffer a devastating blow.

But what First Liu had never anticipated was that the most crucial link in his plan, Fourth Xian, would simply throw down his tools and walk away.

What was he supposed to do now?

"Fourth Xian!" First Liu was furious, hissing in a lowered voice, "Didn't we agree on this beforehand?"

"I only agreed to try." Fourth Xian lowered his eyes. "But Diwu Ba holds a grudge. He still remembers how I sold him inferior, poor-quality iron in my youth. He wouldn't even accept my wine, and he set people to watch the clansmen I brought. If I'd tried to bury the coins in secret, I would certainly have been discovered."

"Even if I hadn't been caught in the act, when the commandery sent people to investigate, the Diwu clan would surely suspect my family. After all, in this day and age, who besides merchants would still possess so many Han wuzhu coins? If their family were imprisoned, they would likely drag me in as well."

So First Liu, who had devised this hole-riddled scheme, was truly a fool. Fourth Xian had no desire to sacrifice his own family for First Liu's petty resentment. He began earnestly trying to talk him out of it. "Even if it succeeded, what benefit would it bring to the First and Fourth clans? Harming others without benefiting oneself — as a merchant, I will never touch a profitless venture."

"Indeed, doing it brings no benefit. But not doing it — the harm to your family would be no small matter!"

First Liu glared at Fourth Xian. "Over these past ten years, your family has committed no small number of illegal and prohibited acts. If I hadn't shielded you at every turn, letting your carts loaded with contraband pass through under cover of night, you'd have long since been arrested by the county and exiled to the lands of the four barbarians!"

It was no joke — the Xin Dynasty's laws were so harsh and absurd that merely raising a hand could break a prohibition. Those merchants and artisans who honestly obeyed the law had long since gone bankrupt. The Fourth clan had survived to this day, and of course they were not clean.

Fourth Xian, however, was unafraid. "The Fourth clan has managed to cling to life until now thanks in large part to the Bailiff's aid. But our two families share weal and woe. If the Fourth clan's violations were exposed by someone, could the First clan possibly wash its hands clean?"

First Liu slammed the bamboo slip in his hand down onto the table. "I won't expose you — but don't expect to do any more business going forward! The First clan or the Fifth — choose one!"

He had thought he had seized the Fourth clan by the throat, but to his surprise, Fourth Xian sighed and said, "Bailiff, today I'll speak frankly. This trade — the risks are too great, the profits too small. One policy change from the court, and all your previous hoarding and cornering comes to nothing. I lie awake all night, unable to sleep, terrified of breaking a prohibition and being hauled off in a caged cart with iron chains. The more I think about it, the more I'd rather just farm in peace."

"As it happens, today I wash my hands clean. This trade — I'm done with it!"

As he spoke, he pushed the wuzhu coins across the table.

"You..." First Liu was struck speechless. Why was it one after another like this? Diwu Lun had resigned and refused to serve as a Filial and Fraternal Exemplar, and now Fourth Xian wanted to abandon trade. It was like punching empty air — he had no leverage over either of them.

"But out of regard for our many years of friendship, I still hope the Bailiff will hear me out for a few more words."

Fourth Xian rose from his mat, bowed again, then lifted his head and asked in return, "Bailiff, how long has it been since you last left this county? Two or three years now, isn't it?"

"Do you know what it's like out there now?"

"In a single word — chaos!"

"I travel through the counties constantly, and what I see is still vivid before my eyes."

Diwu Xian's face showed a trace of fear. "The common people raise a hand and stumble against a prohibition — complaints rise one after another. The powerful families can no longer annex land and gnash their teeth in secret. On top of that, floods and droughts come without pattern: today the Jing River shifts its course, tomorrow the Yellow River bursts its dikes, and locusts grow more numerous year by year. In some places, people are even eating people!"

"The disaster-stricken commoners, bound by the decree on private dependents, cannot even sell themselves into slavery. They have no choice but to take desperate risks and turn to banditry. Now, east of Hangu Pass, bands of brigands, large and small, are everywhere — some a few dozen strong, others over a thousand. Traveling merchants are constantly robbed; never mind making a profit, their very lives are hard to keep. Grain prices around Chang'an grow dearer by the day. In ten years they have risen fivefold, while coin grows cheaper and cheaper."

A duck is the first to know when the spring river warms. Merchants travel everywhere and keep a close eye on market conditions and prices. Far better than peasants tied to their land or even officials who fill a post and feed on their salaries, they can sense subtle changes in every region.

Although Diwu Xian did not go as far as Diwu Lun, who had concluded that within a few years the realm would fall into great chaos, he too understood that the times were growing harder and harder.

"That being so, we who share the same ancestors and the same clan ought to huddle together for warmth."

"And now, just when our clan has produced a young talent like Diwu Lun — so young in years, yet his name and reputation have spread through the whole county — we should be rejoicing. From what I observed of his words and conduct today, he too seems to wish to rally the clan. The world exalts filial piety, fraternal duty, benevolence, and righteousness. If he alone rises to prominence and wins renown, it benefits us all. How could I harm him by making him break a prohibition?"

Diyi Liu only listened blankly. After a long while, he cursed: "Diwu Xian, so it's true — even you mean to betray my family?"

Why did he want to suppress the Diwu clan? Because he had sensed, of course, the surging ambition of Diwu Lun and his grandfather, and the threat they posed to his own "senior branch." That his family's fortunes were in decline was a fact, but the last shred of dignity belonging to a prominent surname in the village — that he had to guard with his life.

As for whether there was chaos outside, what did that have to do with him? Could this Great Xin possibly fall!

He wished to uphold only one thing: whether Linqu was in chaos or not, the Diyi name had the final say!

Seeing that even after he had spoken to this extent, Diyi Liu was still fixated on a fight over a snail's horn, Diwu Xian found it nothing but laughable.

No wonder the Diyi clan, once so flourishing, had by his generation sunk to the level of a mere village Bailiff. The Diwu grandfather and grandson, whether in vision or in wisdom, far surpassed the Diyi line. Diyi Liu truly ought to step aside.

And just at that moment, the Township Assistant once again knocked at the door.

"Bailiff, someone has come from the commandery!"

…

"The commandery office has sent someone to our township?"

Both Diyi Liu and Diwu Xian were utterly taken aback. Diwu Xian stared at the other man in disbelief and demanded in a low voice: "Bailiff, you couldn't have already reported this matter, could you!"

The scheme to frame the Diwu clan had not even taken shape yet — how stupid would one have to be to act so rashly!

"It wasn't me. I didn't."

Diyi Liu was stunned too. He had only exchanged a word with the Commandery Merit Officer, to whom he was tied by marriage, hoping for his support. The man had not yet sent a reply — it was impossible that he would have dispatched someone to investigate so quickly.

So the commandery office's arrival was unrelated to that? Although the Liewei Commandery office was also located within Changling county town, Linqu Township, as a township-level administrative unit, rarely had direct dealings with the commandery office, except for the occasional inspection by a Circuit Inspector.

Unless… something major had happened!

Diyi Liu had no time for wild guesses. He told Diwu Xian to go back for now, straightened his clothes and cap, and led the township office staff out, brooms clasped in welcome.

The broom is a sweeping brush — the saying goes, "gathering one's sleeves about the broom and walking backward, lest dust reach the elder" — a ritual performed when an honored guest or superior officer arrives at one's door.

They had just taken their places when a horse-drawn carriage came from the north side of the road. A single horse in the shafts, a canopy overhead — judging by the lacquer color of the carriage body, its specification was neither high nor low. Two riders escorted it on either side.

After the carriage stopped, an official stepped down. He wore a black cloth cap and a black official robe, with a bronze seal and yellow cord at his waist — the insignia of a Xin Dynasty official ranked from two hundred to five hundred shi, far grander than a village Bailiff's half-seal.

The man's looks were not particularly remarkable, but the moment he opened his mouth, his magnetic baritone voice left a deep impression.

"Where is the Bailiff of Linqu Township?"

Diyi Liu stepped forward and, his heart full of unease, cupped his hands: "This humble officer is here."

The commandery official said: "I am the Commandery Literary Clerk, Jing Dan."

Commandery Literary Clerk — that was a bureau clerk ranked at three hundred shi, in charge of education and ritual affairs within the commandery, not considered to hold much real authority. But Diyi Liu remembered hearing people say that this Jing Dan was a trusted favorite close to the commandery's Grand Governor.

Diyi Liu bowed his head even lower.

"By order of His Excellency Grand Governor Zhang, I have come to proceed to your township's Diwu Village."

At that familiar place name, Diyi Liu could not help but be greatly alarmed. Jing Dan, however, said: "The Bailiff knows his own township well, and I have heard that he is also a relative of the Diwu clan. Lead the way, then, and accompany me there!"

…

PS: A recommendation for Battle-Robe Stained with Blood's new xianxia novel, "One Man's Attainment of the Dao."

My editor Huya has been recommending this book everywhere — it looks very good.