Chapter 140: Deserves to Die

"So you were born in the first year of Yuanshi — what a coincidence."

Wang Mang sank into memory. The year Diwu Lun was born had also been the start of his own soaring career.

That year, Emperor Ping of Han had just ascended the throne, and Wang Mang, for his merit in planning the succession, was appointed Grand Marshal and Grand General by Wang Zhengjun.

That year, the core team for Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han first took shape: Wang Shun and Wang Yi as his trusted confidants; Zhen Feng and Zhen Han in charge of judgments; Ping Yan overseeing confidential affairs; Liu Xin in charge of official documents; Sun Jian as his claws and teeth. Zhen Feng's son Zhen Xun, Liu Xin's son Liu Fen, Cui Fa of Zhuo Commandery, and Chen Chong of Nanyang — all were placed in office according to their talents, devising strategies for him.

That year, Wang Mang decreed that princes and marquises could be succeeded by close kin, preventing lines from dying out and fiefs from being abolished; he enfeoffed thirty-six great-grandsons of Emperor Xuan of Han as marquises; granted twenty-five meritorious planners of the succession the title of Marquis Within the Passes; issued retired officials a pension of one-third their former salary; proclaimed a general amnesty, and released convicted women prisoners to return home. He curried favor with virtually every stratum of society.

That same year, Wang Mang instructed Yizhou to present a white pheasant in the name of the "Yueshang clan" as an auspicious omen. Through a series of maneuvers, he obtained the title "Duke Who Pacifies the Han" and was hailed as the Duke of Zhou reborn, his power rivaling the Emperor's, with the expectation that he would bring about perfect peace.

Yet now, twenty-one years later, the long-awaited perfect peace was more distant than ever. The world was so unsettled it seemed on the verge of collapse — something even Wang Mang, deep within the palace, could feel. Especially the news that had arrived just yesterday, which made Wang Mang intensely anxious, more urgent to him than all the bandits of Qing, Xu, Jing, and Chu combined.

The former Han imperial clan, high officials, petty functionaries, commoners — virtually every stratum now resented the New Policies. And the trusted claws and teeth who had once been like his own limbs had either grown old or died, and not a few had betrayed him. Talent was withering; he had to unearth new men.

Wang Mang's inquiry into Diwu Lun's age was for this very purpose. Although the Filial and Incorrupt selection and noble titles had no age restrictions, some posts had unwritten rules — it was an established convention that only a "man of full vigor" could hold them.

"Though Diwu Lun has not yet reached twenty-three and is not yet in full vigor, in these extraordinary times, since he has passed twenty, he may still serve as a senior official and be entrusted with heavy responsibility."

Wang Mang then asked Diwu Lun: "I have heard that before Yang Ziyun passed away, he wrote a work entitled 'The Emissary's Regional Words: Discriminations of the Languages of the Various States,' which so intrigued the State Preceptor that he even wrote to request a viewing — yet Ziyun ultimately never showed it to him."

"And the one who has inherited Ziyun's learning of regional speech is you."

Wang Mang, for reasons unknown, suddenly grew interested in this. "Back when Ziyun and I were both Gentlemen of the Yellow Gate, I recall his most outstanding skill, aside from composing fu, was being able to chat with officials from different commanderies and kingdoms, each in their own distinct regional dialect. Like Ziyun, can you do the same?"

Diwu Lun replied: "Your servant is not the equal of my late teacher. My natural gifts are ordinary; I can only speak the major dialect families. As for the miscellaneous, fragmentary local patois of various commanderies and counties, I have not had the time to learn them one by one."

It was precisely by relying on this skill that Diwu Lun had been able to move as freely as a fish in water in an era where, even with the existence of standard speech, few could speak it properly. Over the past year and more, he had traveled west to Ba and Shu, north to New Qin, and south to the Forward Division, able to converse warmly with the locals everywhere.

Wang Mang was very satisfied. He opened his mouth and spoke in a hometown dialect he had not used in many years, to test Diwu Lun.

"So, can you understand this speech?"

On the morning of the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after receiving this unexpected imperial command, Diwu Lun hurriedly left the palace. He departed the city before noon, and thus missed the urgent report that arrived from the south at midday.

"The Governor of Jingzhou, Fei Xing, raised twenty thousand emergency conscripts to attack the Greenwood bandits. In the ensuing battle, the government forces suffered a crushing defeat, with several thousand dead and all baggage and equipment lost. The Greenwood bandits then attacked and seized Jingling, massacred Anlu, abducted many women, and withdrew back into the Greenwood mountains, occupying Yun Du County. They now number over fifty thousand souls, with twenty thousand bandit troops. The province and commanderies cannot contain them..."

The bad news from the south did not stop there. Although Greenwood lacked any grand ambition and failed to press their advantage further, they had shown the people of Jingzhou the feebleness of the court's armies.

After word of this battle reached Nan Commandery, a local county official named Qin Feng raised a revolt at Liqiu, behind Fei Xing's main force. With the vast, dense forests of Mount Jing at his back, he gathered a multitude of over ten thousand, with several thousand soldiers.

Now the Governor of Jingzhou's army was beset from front and rear, trapped in a few cities along the Han River between Greenwood Mountain and Mount Jing. Their position was perilous in the extreme; to say nothing of mounting a campaign, even self-preservation was difficult.

Combined with the Yushan bandits who had relocated to Wudang County in the Forward Division, the entire south was riddled with festering wounds, reaching a point that could no longer be ignored.

Wang Mang immediately had the bell rung, summoning all officials to the Hall of the Royal Road to deliberate. He asked them for strategies to exterminate the bandits. The assembled ministers, long since cowed into utter submission by Wang Mang's eccentric temper, astonishingly declared in one voice: "Your Majesty, those petty thieves are all criminals who have offended Heaven. They are like walking corpses — they will not live long."

And then? Then they fell silent as winter cicadas, folded their hands in their sleeves, and offered not a single concrete strategy. After all, many of them did not even know where Greenwood or Mount Jing were.

"I want to hear the truth!" Wang Mang was frantic today. He ordered that the old ministers of state who had already retired from public life be summoned as well — men like the State Preceptor Liu Xin, who had long pleaded illness, and the former Grand Marshal Yan You.

Even Gongsun Lu, the General of the Left who had served alongside Wang Mang in the former Han court and later became his enemy, attacking and denouncing him, was helped tottering into the palace by a Gentleman of the Yellow Gate.

Gongsun Lu had not set foot in this Hall of the Royal Road for at least twenty-one years — events dating back to the year of Diwu Lun's birth, around the first year of Yuanshi.

Back then, Gongsun Lu was General of the Left and on good terms with He Wu, General of the Front. After Emperor Ai of Han passed away, the two privately planned, reasoning that during the reigns of the young Emperors Hui and Zhao in the past, the Lü, Huo, and Shangguan consort clans had seized power and nearly endangered the state. Now that Cheng and Ai had produced no heirs for successive generations, they should select someone close to the Emperor to assist a young sovereign, rather than letting the consort kinsman Wang Mang hold power. A mix of close and distant kin would benefit the state's grand strategy.

Thus, when the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun had the assembled ministers recommend a Grand Marshal, Gongsun Lu and He Wu recommended each other.

They forgot, however, that this was not a secret ballot. Wang Mang seized on this as a pretext, impeaching the two for forming a faction. Gongsun Lu was promptly dismissed from office.

Now, when others dared not speak the truth, this long-disgraced Gongsun Lu, as Wang Mang's former enemy, was famously blunt. The moment he entered the Hall of the Royal Road, he went down the ranks of ministers, denouncing each in turn.

First to bear the brunt was Liu Xin, who had pleaded illness and long stayed away from court since the deaths of his son-in-law and daughter. Gongsun Lu pointed at this old pedant who had betrayed the Liu surname and cursed: "State Preceptor, Duke of Jiaxin, Liu Xin — he has turned the Five Classics upside down, destroyed the family traditions of the classical masters, and bewildered the scholars of the realm. He deserves to die!"

Liu Xin, hearing this, raised his head. His dead, still eyes held no emotion whatsoever. Yes — an unworthy descendant who had forgotten his ancestors and betrayed his lineage like him had long deserved to die. But if he were to die just like this, descending to the Yellow Springs as a minister of the Xin, how could he face his father, who had been loyal to the Great Han all his life? How could he face his ancestor, King Yuan of Chu, who had helped the High Emperor establish the institutions of the Han?

Gongsun Lu then fixed his gaze on Tang Zun, who had just been promoted to Grand Mentor. It was Tang Zun who, in these times, was still helping Wang Mang vigorously implement "Confucius's governance" in the capital, seeking to restore the ancient simple virtues and insisting that men and women walk on separate sides of the road. Whenever Tang Zun saw young people walking hand in hand, he would send men rushing up to spatter their clothes with muddy water. Gongsun Lu had long found him insufferable.

"Grand Mentor, Marquis of Pinghua, Tang Zun — he uses hypocritical words and deeds to steal fame and position, sets a chaotic example, and leads the young astray. He deserves to die!"

Tang Zun shrank his head, indicating that he was merely rigorously implementing the words of the sages, nothing more. It was, after all, the only thing he knew how to do.

"State General, Duke of Meixin, Ai Zhang — he oversees astrology and the calendar, observes the weather, yet takes baleful portents for auspicious ones, disrupts the celestial patterns, and misleads the court. He deserves to die!"

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Ai Zhang's face was full of grievance. From the time of the golden casket onward, he had only interpreted things according to what the Emperor liked to hear — was that wrong too?

Gongsun Lu glared hatefully at Chen Chong, who had interrogated his family many times, trying to implicate him in capital crimes of treason: "Master of Fates of the Five Majesties, Marquis of Tongmu, Chen Chong — he has wantonly stirred up unjust prosecutions, blocked the lower orders' grievances from reaching the throne, and goaded the court into the northern campaign against the Xiongnu. He deserves to die!"

Chen Chong, for his part, wore an expression of clear conscience, holding his head high and ignoring Gongsun Lu.

Next, Gongsun Lu cursed his way down the line: "Receiver of Words Lu Kuang established the Five Averages and Six Monopolies system, but appointed the wrong men. The Five Averages officials colluded with the commanderies and counties, exploiting the people for profit and amassing great fortunes, leaving merchants and artisans with no way out but to become bandits. He deserves to die!"

"And Zhang Han, the Erudite of Illumined Learning, and Sun Yang, the Marquis of Geography, who devised the well-field system, causing the powerful houses to lose their lands and properties, and recklessly altered place names and official titles, leaving officials and commoners alike not knowing what to follow. They too deserve to die!"

Good heavens — every single item, every single case, was among Wang Mang's proudest policy achievements, especially the name changes.

Gongsun Lu was utterly repudiating everything the Xin Dynasty had done for over a decade! Wang Mang listened as if sitting on a bed of needles.

"The Emperor asks me how to bring peace to the realm? Then I shall speak plainly."

Finally, Gongsun Lu pointed at the entire court of civil and military officials and declared: "It would be fitting to execute these several men, to comfort the realm!"

If it were done as he said, this Hall of the Royal Road would likely have to be half-emptied.

Wang Mang flew into a rage: "General Gongsun, I asked you for a strategy to exterminate the bandits. Do not ramble and drag in irrelevancies. Remove him!"

Seeing that Gongsun Lu was about to continue his tirade, denouncing everything Wang Mang had done over the past dozen years as utterly worthless, the Emperor ordered the Rapid as Tigers guards to quickly help the old general out. Stop cursing — I beg you, please stop cursing.

Gongsun Lu seemed to have grown addicted to the pleasure of venting his spleen. Before the Rapid as Tigers guards could drag him out, the nearly eighty-year-old man still shouted at the top of his lungs: "The Xiongnu must not be attacked — we should make peace and marriage alliances with them. I fear the Xin's troubles lie not with the Xiongnu, but within our own borders!"

As things now stood, after the humiliation of losing an army, did I still not understand that we could no longer open hostilities with the Xiongnu?

Though Gongsun Lu's words were harsh, this old minister — loyal to whoever sat on the throne — had indeed spoken from the heart. Wang Mang seemed to reflect, and adopted some of Gongsun Lu's opinions.

For instance, Lu Kuang, who had led the Five Averages and Six Monopolies system, was dismissed from the post of Receiver of Words, one of the Nine Ministers, and packed off to the northern commandery of Huoxiang to serve as Regional Director. Blaming all the evils of the Five Averages and Six Monopolies on Lu Kuang could also be seen as fulfilling the realm's wish — see? Have I not punished him?

Was this a sign that he intended to change course? No one could guess the Emperor's mind. But unlike the First Emperor of Qin or Emperor Wu of Han, Wang Mang was hard to fathom not because of profound imperial statecraft, but because his thinking was so erratic and hard to grasp — he could always deliver a pleasant surprise, or rather, a shock.

Thus, the post of Receiver of Words fell vacant. Wang Mang simply appointed Yan You, whose noble rank had just been restored, to fill the position.

Everyone congratulated Yan You on his rehabilitation. Yan You merely laughed and said: "Perhaps it was because I served as Diwu Boyu's host-guest and acted as his matchmaker that I caught some of his auspicious air. Boyu is my lucky star."

A moment later, Wang Mang summoned Yan You alone to the Proclamation Chamber and asked him, "The court officials have heard that the bandits in Shandong and Jingzhou number in the tens of thousands, yet they have never had any documents, official titles, banners, or insignia. Everyone finds this quite astonishing."

"The State General Ai Zhang even said, could it be that these men are like the armies of the ancient Three Sovereigns, needing no documents or titles? What do you think?"

The State General Ai Zhang was just an Imperial Academy student who rose by flattery and presenting auspicious talismans — what could he possibly understand of military affairs? Yan You only found it laughable. "Your Majesty, this is nothing remarkable. Ever since the Yellow Emperor and King Tang of Shang marched their armies, they always had organization, banners, and orders. That the rebels in the east and south now lack such systems only shows they are nothing but a rabble of cold and hungry bandits, herding together like livestock, too ignorant to adopt such institutions."

Wang Mang was overjoyed. "In that case, they are not worth worrying about?"

Yan You replied only with a veiled allusion: "Has Your Majesty not heard, 'Hoes and thorn-wood spears were no sharper than hooked halberds and long blades; the conscripted garrison troops were no match for the armies of the nine kingdoms'?"

This was a warning to Wang Mang: beware lest the bandits become another Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.

Wang Mang understood. Inwardly he was displeased that Yan You compared the Xin to the tyrannical Qin, but aloud he said with feeling, "You once said that the Xiongnu could be dealt with later, and that we should first worry about the bandits in Shandong. Looking back now, those were indeed loyal and earnest words."

His tone softened, and he sighed. "With the great bandits running rampant in Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Jingzhou, the regions are nearly ruined. Erudite, tell me honestly: if I try to mend the fold after the sheep are lost, is it too late?"

This was truly unprecedented — the Emperor had actually admitted his own mistake. A warmth surged in Yan You's heart. This was the humble, open-minded Acting Emperor, the Duke Who Pacifies the Han, from before the Han was replaced — the man who had won the wholehearted devotion of scholars like them who longed to change the world.

After more than ten years of muddled and reckless rule, had that wise and brilliant Wang Mang finally returned?

In Yan You's view, when he had advised against attacking the Xiongnu in the sixth year of Tianfeng, the domestic bandits had been no more than a skin-deep ailment, treatable with needles and stone probes.

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Now, after two years of delayed treatment, the disease had worsened and reached the intestines and stomach. But if treated with strong, fiery medicine, there was still a chance of remission.

Yan You felt that the Great Xin could yet be salvaged. Besides, he who eats another's food must die in his service — even if the illness had reached the vital organs, he would still try!

So Yan You prostrated himself and knocked his head to the floor, saying with heartfelt relief, "Your Majesty, of course there is still time!"

But Wang Mang, who had been normal for just a moment, soon began his erratic ways again. While appointing Yan You as Intendant of the Treasury to manage the empire's coin and grain, Wang Mang slapped his own head and decided that, after granting military authority to the Regional Governors, Commandery Administrators, and County Magistrates, he would also have the Nine Ministers serve the state, combining civil and military roles as in the Zhou dynasty.

All the Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers at court were given the concurrent title of "Grand General" — Yan You thus became "Intendant Grand General."

Wang Mang personally bestowed a battle-axe upon Yan You. "Erudite, I wish to send you to pacify the bandits of the south, in Jingzhou!"

Looking at the domestic bandits, it was Lü Mu and Fan Chong in Qingzhou and Xuzhou who had risen first, and their power was now so great that the provinces and commanderies could no longer contain them. That was why Wang Mang had dispatched the Grand Preceptor Xi Zhongjing Shang and others to personally coordinate the troops of Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Yanzhou for a campaign of suppression.

Jing Shang and the others had been sending frequent reports of victory — killing several hundred bandits today, beheading over a thousand rebels tomorrow. The situation in the east looked excellent, and Wang Mang was somewhat reassured. He never expected that a thunderbolt would strike in the south.

Now the Greenwood bandits had also grown large, and they were closer to the Central Plains heartland than Qingzhou and Xuzhou, which immediately drew Wang Mang's attention — not to mention that he had seen that "prophecy" just days ago, making him even more concerned about Jingzhou and Chu.

Fei Xing knew nothing of military affairs, and Zhen Fu dared not venture rashly beyond his commandery. Relying on Jingzhou alone was no longer enough. Wang Mang needed someone to go to Yuzhou to raise troops, then march south to coordinate the military affairs of Jingzhou and Yangzhou to exterminate the bandits.

He had his eye on the great military strategist Yan You. Hadn't Yan You handled the Goguryeo campaign quite brilliantly? And in court deliberations and strategic planning, events had proven Yan You to be always correct.

Wang Mang was quite generous. "Whatever aides you need, just name them!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Yan You's first thought was of his disciple, his lucky star.

"I beseech Your Majesty to assign Diwu Lun to my command!"

Had Diwu Lun known that Yan You thought so highly of him, he would surely have cursed aloud — every last one of them wanted to drag him into trouble.

Wang Mang, however, was greatly puzzled. "Why?"

Yan You said, "Though Boyu is young, he understands military affairs. He has learned much of my strategic doctrine, and earlier in New Qinzhong he repelled an incursion of barbarian raiders — he has the talent of a general as well."

"Moreover, Diwu Lun received the true teachings of Yang Ziyun, is thoroughly versed in the dialects of every region, and has traveled south to the Vanguard Commandery — he can be of even greater assistance to me."

The reasons were ample, but Wang Mang was uneasy about letting two men so close serve as commander and deputy, leading a major army on their own. Besides, the news from Jizhou had arrived earlier than the news from the south! If one were to weigh the gravity of the two matters and compare the degree of threat each posed to the Xin, in Wang Mang's mind, the former was even more urgent than the latter!

So Wang Mang only said, "Erudite, let Dou Rong — who also distinguished himself in New Qinzhong — be appointed as Lieutenant General to serve as your deputy. Earlier, when Diwu Lun answered my questions at court, he praised Dou Rong's command of troops as far surpassing his own."

"As for Diwu Lun, I have other plans for him — they are already on the way!"

…

PS: Bonus chapter tomorrow.