Chapter 193: Every Five Hundred Years a True King Shall Arise

In early October, when Emperor Wang Mang raised his head in the Wanglu Hall of Shoucheng Palace, he could clearly see a bright anomalous star blazing in the Zhang lunar lodge, moving southeast across the divisions of Yi and Zhen.

Wang Mang summoned the Grand Astrologer, State General Ai Zhang, and even State Preceptor Liu Xin to ask: "What does this celestial sign portend?"

He knew a little astronomy himself and worried deeply that it signified the Greenwood rebels in the south had not been wiped out — that they had even slipped through Yan You's net and split into the Xiajiang and the Xin bands, wreaking havoc in Nan Commandery and the Front Division. This had made Wang Mang utterly disappointed in Yan You; he had already sent men to deliver a stern reprimand, ordering him to exterminate the Greenwood rebels at once.

To his surprise, everyone answered in one voice: "This is an auspicious celestial pattern, an omen that the bandit hordes are about to be destroyed."

Wang Mang was half-convinced, half-doubtful. After all, nothing had gone right these past two years, and even the once supremely confident emperor had begun to doubt himself.

"Can I still become a sage king and restore the rule of the Three Dynasties?"

Mencius had a famous saying: "Every five hundred years, a true king shall arise!"

From Yao and Shun to Tang of Shang, more than five hundred years passed.

From Tang the Completer to King Wen and the Duke of Zhou, more than five hundred years passed.

From the Duke of Zhou to Confucius, likewise more than five hundred years passed.

Since Confucius, there have been many renowned figures — the Seven Hegemons of the Warring States, Meng Ke and Xun Qing, the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han, down to Dong Zhongshu and the rest — all barely passable, some achieving hegemony, some becoming worthy Confucians, but ultimately still far from the standard of a worthy king or sage.

Until recent times, when Wang Mang burst onto the scene in an age of moral decay under Emperors Cheng and Ai. He was a paragon of virtue, a model for Confucian scholars, praised throughout court and countryside alike.

The whole realm believed he was the Duke of Zhou reborn, and Wang Mang himself came to believe it. After becoming Duke Who Pacifies the Han, he had Liu Xin and others meticulously research the texts and commentaries, ultimately concluding: Confucius died on the yichou day of the fourth month, summer, in the sixteenth year of Duke Ai (479 BC). Counting five hundred years from his death...

That is our own era!

This meant a true king must arise in the world — a major reason that drove Wang Mang to resolve to supplant the Han.

"If one wishes to bring peace and order to all under Heaven, in this present age, who else but me? Why should I not be content?"

And as the Xin Dynasty was established, that "five hundred years" moment drew ever clearer — it fell precisely in the thirteenth year after the founding of the Great Xin. Time pressed hard, and that was why Wang Mang governed with such desperate haste: he wanted the realm pacified and ordered by the time the five-hundredth year after Confucius's death arrived!

Yet now, as the planned time for "peace and order" — the end of the third year of Dihuang — approached, the realm had not grown peaceful and joyous but had instead worsened steadily. This shattered Wang Mang's confidence. When the anomalous star appeared, even the court astrologers' reassurances could not set his mind at ease.

Only when word arrived of "the great victory at Youyan, the Red Eyebrows routed" did Wang Mang's spirits revive.

"Seen this way, wiping out the rebels within the year is still possible!"

Wang Mang thanked August Heaven, the Supreme One on High, for granting him another chance. He no longer insisted that the realm be instantly pacified — he would simply treat this "five hundred years after Confucius" as a new beginning.

It was under these circumstances that Wang Mang received the memorial from the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties impeaching Diwu Lun. His feelings were somewhat mixed.

The year before, when Yan You was ordered south to suppress the Greenwood rebels, he had earnestly requested that Diwu Lun accompany him, but Wang Mang refused, saying there was another important assignment.

Diwu Lun's posting to Weicheng was personally chosen by Wang Mang. The young man had performed admirably, swiftly capturing and executing the rebel Li Yan and nipping the Wei-region Han restoration in the bud. After that, he had repelled the Red Eyebrow Chi Zhaoping and safeguarded the imperial ancestral temple and tombs at Yuancheng, so delighting Wang Mang that he promoted Diwu Lun to a marquisate.

But from then on, Diwu Lun had grown less obedient. First he made excuses to evade the annual audit, then he found pretexts to withhold grain deliveries for the imperial army. Wang Mang had let it all pass — after all, compared to those ten thousand-odd dan of grain, having Diwu Lun protect his own imperial ancestral temple and tombs mattered more.

By autumn, Diwu Lun had sent another memorial informing the court that he had discovered the Li clan of Wu'an was involved in the Han-restoration rebellion, that the local powerful families could not be trusted, and that only court troops could wipe them out — begging that the Boar-Rush Braves of Xin Qinzhong be allowed to pass through and lend a hand. Yet after the fighting was done, he memorialized again, saying he had underestimated the enemy: though the Li clan had been driven out, the Boar-Rush Braves had suffered grievous losses and could not move, so they had no choice but to rest and recover locally.

Wang Mang had turned a blind eye to all this — until the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties recently uncovered the truth.

For instance, that Feng Yan, an aide to the General of Renewal, had privately colluded with Diwu Lun, secretly altering the old unit's marching route first and only reporting it to the court after being found out.

And that the Boar-Rush Braves had not suffered grievous losses at all but had won a complete victory, whereupon Diwu Lun had arranged land and houses for them locally, with every intention of detaining them permanently.

Looking over the charges the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties had compiled against Diwu Lun — defying court decrees? Yes.

Treating imperial troops as private soldiers, giving thanks for favor at a private gate, letting emoluments depart from the public house? Yes, that too.

But in Wang Mang's eyes, none of this counted as "great villainy." Though he was extremely harsh toward his own sons and grandsons, he was remarkably lenient with his ministers, especially those who posed no threat to him. If a man like Lian Dan, who lost battle after battle, could be given chances, how much more so a meritorious subject?

"After all, he is just a youngster — rash, prone to blunders. And Chen Chong, the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties, has a personal grudge against Diwu Lun; his account may well contain exaggerations."

"I cannot let the affair of Tian Kuang repeat itself. Nor can I let Diwu Lun come to a bad end."

That had been a bitter lesson. The year before, when the Red Eyebrows ravaged Qing Province, Xu Province, and Yan Province, every commandery had failed to strike the bandits effectively. Only Tian Kuang, the Regional Chief of Jiping (Beihai), had shown real ability: he mobilized the powerful families to train troops on their own, summoned every able-bodied male over eighteen in his jurisdiction, mustered over forty thousand men, then emptied the armories of weapons and armor. He defeated the Red Eyebrows repeatedly, so that they dared not encroach on Jiping.

When the matter was reported, although Tian Kuang had mobilized troops without the court's tiger tally — an act that smacked of insubordination and should by rights have been punished — the court, considering the emergency and that the circumstances were pardonable, chose not to pursue it. Instead, Tian Kuang was enfeoffed as "Marquis Who Tests the Boiling Water," signifying that he would go through fire and water for the court.

Who could have guessed that after receiving his reward, Tian Kuang would grow even more zealous, conceiving the idea of spanning commanderies and linking provinces? He even proposed that he be allowed to take charge of military affairs in Qing and Xu Provinces — that sending imperial troops would only make things worse, and that authority should be devolved to the localities: let me mobilize the powerful families of Qing Province and wipe out the Red Eyebrows for Your Majesty!

These words were rather grating. Wang Mang thereupon promoted Tian Kuang in name but demoted him in fact, transferring him to the vicinity of the capital region to serve as Master-Doctor of the Division.

As soon as Tian Kuang was transferred away, affairs in Qing Province collapsed. The Red Eyebrows swelled in strength, killed Jing Shang, routed government troops, and became unstoppable.

Diwu Lun's conduct was far less serious than Tian Kuang's — at most, cautious little probings that had not yet crossed Wang Mang's bottom line. With the fighting east of the passes still unresolved, if Diwu Lun were rashly dismissed and Weicheng repeated the disaster of Jiping, what then?

Besides, unlike Tian Kuang, Diwu Lun's clan and grandfather were all within the Passes, and the Ma family, into which he had married, were loyal servants of the court — the Governor of Yang Province, Ma Yu, had even died at his post. If only for the Ma family's sake, Wang Mang would not punish Diwu Lun too harshly.

So Wang Mang decided not to make a big show of it. He would simply give the boy a spanking — a little pain to teach him a lesson.

An edict of reprimand and rebuke was certain. Weicheng Commandery's annual audit for this year must be submitted, and the grain owed from last year must be made up — at least thirty thousand dan delivered to Grand Preceptor Wang Kuang.

Most importantly, Diwu Lun must at once send that batch of detained Boar-Rush Braves to the army of the General of Renewal, Marquis of Xianxin, Lian Dan, who had won great merit.

"If even one man is missing, make it up with able-bodied conscripts from Wei!"

In any case, the General of Renewal and the Grand Preceptor were riding high on morale; there was no fear that Diwu Lun, so close at hand, would disobey. After sealing the edict, Wang Mang dispatched a Palace Gentleman to take men and deliver it at once to Weicheng Commandery.

But they had barely passed through the Canglong Gate of Shoucheng Palace when, right on their heels, a panic-stricken messenger from the east entered the four gates of Wanglu, prostrated himself before the throne, and reported dire news sent by express courier.

"Your Majesty — the General of Renewal is no more!"

The patents of nobility for the Duke of Baoxin and the Duke of Xianxin had not even arrived when word came back from the front of a catastrophic defeat. The General of Renewal himself was dead, and along with him, an army of a hundred thousand.

Grand Preceptor Wang Kuang, who had escaped with his life only because Lian Dan fought to the death, wrote a memorial on the retreat in which he heaped all the blame onto Lian Dan.

Wang Kuang indignantly charged that the General of Renewal had wantonly slaughtered innocents in Yan Province, enraging the locals so that they secretly aided the Red Eyebrows — he even cited a ditty as proof: "The Grand Preceptor is bearable; the General of Renewal kills me."

"While your servant was locked in desperate battle with the Red Eyebrows of Liangshan and on the verge of victory, Lian Dan was defeated by Fan Chong of the Mount Tai Red Eyebrows and abandoned Youyan. The General of Renewal's routed troops crashed into my rear formations, ultimately throwing all three armies into rout. Your servant had no choice but to withdraw. Lian Dan, far from feeling shame, cast aside the seal, cord, tally, and armor bestowed by Your Majesty, cut off his beard, removed his cap, and fled, seeking to cling to life in disgrace. He died in the end amid the chaos of battle. Countless men of the General of Renewal's army surrendered to the Red Eyebrows."

"Your servant has gathered several tens of thousands of the remnant troops, fighting as we retreat, and has reached Chenliu and Luoyang. I shall ensure that Henan is not lost!"

This scene was exactly the same as when Lian Dan, years ago on the northern frontier, had dumped all the blame for the fruitless northern expedition onto Han Wei, the General Who Swallows the Hu, who had died striking the enemy.

After all, dead men cannot defend themselves.

Wang Mang flew into a towering rage and believed every word. He approved Grand Preceptor Wang Kuang's defense of Luoyang, but threw the entire family of the General of Renewal, Lian Dan — "who lost the army and disgraced the state" — into prison.

And this great defeat sent shock through court and countryside alike.

"Are the Red Eyebrows truly so invincible?"

The assembled ministers, who only days before had been singing Wang Mang's praises and lauding the two generals as Sun Wu reborn, now fell silent as winter cicadas.

Only the Grand Minister of Works Wang Yi, who styled himself "the greatest general under heaven," began to hold forth again.

"I knew it. Lian Dan loses battle after battle — he couldn't even take the petty state of Juding. How could he possibly stand against great rebel villains? And that Yan You — sent to pacify the Greenwood in Jiangxia, and now he's 'pacified' them all the way into Nan Commandery and the Front Column. Those fellows are nothing special. To smash the great bandits, I'll still have to step forward myself. Think back to the year I wiped out Zhai Yi in three months..."

Everyone knew the situation east of the passes had undergone a drastic change — how could Wang Mang be oblivious?

After a brief moment of dazed shock, the first thing he thought of was to immediately issue orders to the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties and the Palace Gentlemen.

"Quickly — recall the edict reprimanding Diwu Lun!"

It shouldn't have crossed Ba Bridge yet; there was still time.

The situation now was that the Red Eyebrows were surging, unstoppable. At any moment they might follow the example of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang at the end of Qin, driving westward all the way — who knew if they might really reach the walls of Luoyang.

Yanzhou, Qingzhou, even Xuzhou — the court's reach could no longer extend to them. And Wei Commandery, which held the strategic junction of Yan and Ji, absolutely must not fall!

The troops Diwu Lun had detained, the grain he had hoarded without giving up a single hair — before, it was private gratitude to a patron, emoluments draining from the ducal house; now it had become the seed stock preserved for the court.

Far from slapping Diwu Lun as he had before, Wang Mang now had to do the opposite and toss him a sweet date!

Wang Mang had not yet decided how to reward Diwu Lun when, in the night, another piece of bad news — still hot from having occurred only days ago — was delivered outside the Shoucheng Chamber.

"The Grand Governor of the Front Column, Zhen Fu, reports: Li Shou, State Preceptor's Minister of the Lineage, has a son — the former Assistant Magistrate of Wu County, Li Tong — who has gathered clients and partisans, conspired with the Former Han imperial clan's Chongling Liu lineage, colluded with the Greenwood troops, and intends to rebel at Wan!"

"The Li clan of Wancheng? The Liu clan of Chongling?"

The Emperor suddenly recalled the prophetic verse that had arisen in Wei territory and been snuffed out by Diwu Lun: "Jing-Chu shall rise, the Liu clan shall be restored, the Li clan shall assist."

How could it be such a coincidence! Wang Mang stared in shock, raising his head — and found that the broom-star traveling through the southeastern sky was still there!

"Wasn't it agreed: every five hundred years, a king must arise?"

PS: Chapter 3 at 18:00.