Chapter 242: To Raise the Banner or Not?

Zhang Zhan's "loyal unto death" stand at Changling lasted only half the night.

In the early hours of the twenty-sixth day of the fifth month, Zhang Zhan, exhausted after a full day of arranging the city's defenses, had barely dozed off leaning against a pillar when he awoke with a start to find something amiss — and discovered he had been tied up!

The commandery clerks were all kneeling in the hall, their faces full of shame as they told him: "My lord, within the city those answering Diwu Boyu's call are beyond counting; the local strongmen hold secret gatherings of a hundred men at a time, and light-armed bravos keep approaching the four city gates, intent on coordinating from within and without. The Grand Minister of Works has already drawn off the greater part of the commandery troops to the east. We reckoned we could not prevent today's upheaval, and since those rising up outside are all men of our own district, surely they will do no harm to the common folk. After talking it over, we decided that Changling men should not fight Changling men, so we simply opened the gates."

They bowed their heads to the ground before Zhang Zhan: "We bound you, my lord, not out of any disloyal intent, but only because Lord Zhang is so fiercely upright — we feared you might do yourself harm!"

To spare Zhang Zhan the risk of biting his own tongue in fury, they had even considerately stuffed his mouth with a clean cloth.

A short while later, when Diwu Ba, Diba Jiao, and the others entered the Changling commandery offices without shedding a drop of blood, this was the scene that greeted them.

Zhang Zhan was, after all, the patron who had recommended Diwu Lun — a bond of no ordinary significance — so Diba Jiao hurriedly untied him, but Zhang Zhan only glared at Diwu Ba in his armor: "County Elder, you…"

"Lord Zhang." Diwu Ba, who the year before last had been recommended by the authorities as County Elder on account of Diwu Lun, slapped his armor and laughed heartily: "I am no County Elder. I am the Assistant General of the Five Tombs, under the Grand General Who Pacifies the People!"

He felt that, aside from his grandson, not one of the clan amounted to much — Diwu Biao and Diba Jiao both lacked the necessary renown — so he had simply taken up the banner himself. Diwu Lun's grandfather — doesn't that have a fine ring to it? And it let him indulge his craving to be a general while he was at it.

Zhang Zhan grew even angrier: "You, grandfather and grandson, have both received abundant grace from the Son of Heaven — why then do you rebel?"

Diwu Ba was the sort who, even if inwardly a little ashamed, would never show weakness in words, so he put on the shameless swagger of a young tough: "Boyu earned every one of his achievements by solid merit — fighting the Xiongnu, putting down insurrections, defeating the Red Eyebrows, deed after deed. Even by the standards of the Han dynasty, those would have been enough to enfeoff him as a marquis at the two-thousand-bushel rank. Heaven merely used Wang Mang's hand to promote him — what grace is there in that?"

What shamelessness! Zhang Zhan was about to rebuke him further when someone beside them shouted angrily: "Zhang Zixiao, how can you still be so obstinate even now!"

It was Diba Jiao, his face brimming with righteous indignation: "Wang Mang has tormented the people grievously for over ten years — can the Grand Governor truly be blind to it?"

"That year the Jing River silted up and changed its course, leaving tens of thousands stricken, yet Wang Mang took it as an omen of earth filling water and the Xin destroying the Xiongnu — he saw it not as calamity but as good fortune. Lord Zhang pleaded for aid time and again, but the court turned a deaf ear, so that relief came too late and over a thousand households were driven from their homes."

"After that came the levies against the Xiongnu, the property taxes, the corvée conscription, the building of the Nine Temples — all of which ruined countless families and reduced men to Boar-Rush Braves. Lord Zhang admonished him repeatedly, but Wang Mang heeded not a single word."

"Wrongs like these have wounded the people deeply, yet Wang Mang has never repented or blamed himself. How is that different from stabbing a man to death and then saying, 'It was not I — it was the weapon'?"

"And Lord Zhang, together with the Grand General Who Pacifies the People — who until now was a servant of the Xin — you were both nothing more than the blade in Wang Mang's hand!"

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"Now the General can no longer bear to aid the tyrant in his crimes and has turned his blade around — yet Lord Zhang rebukes him, asking why he will not go on being a blade that maims and torments the people. Is that not absurd?"

This speech left Zhang Zhan so stricken with shame that he could no longer stand on the moral high ground of the "loyal minister" and scold them.

Diba Jiao had received Diwu Lun's explicit instructions: Zhang Zhan must stay alive! Ideally, he should also cooperate, because as Diwu Lun's patron his status was extraordinary. If Zhang Zhan in a moment of folly took his own life as a martyr for Wang Mang, Diwu Lun's reputation across the Six Lieutenancies would suffer a severe blow.

After returning to the county, Diba Jiao had himself once been summoned to office by Zhang Zhan, and he knew that a man like Zhang Zhan could not be swayed by arguments of gain and loss — he had to be addressed in terms of virtue and righteousness. And what Zhang Zhan cared about most deeply was still the propagation of ritual and moral instruction, so Diba Jiao continued: "I know Lord Zhang's heart is wholly with the people. Looking across the governance of the neighboring commanderies, none matches Lord Zhang's dedication. Yet commandery affairs only grow worse and worse, bandits spring up everywhere, until men are on the verge of eating one another. Why is that?"

"Because Wang Mang will not heed loyal and upright counsel, but is beguiled only by senseless institutional tinkering and reckless action. To govern is to be upright — if the Emperor himself is not upright, who can be made so?"

"Lord Zhang's efforts are like carrying firewood to put out a fire. The Grand General saw through this as well, and that is why he has resolutely raised the banner of righteousness. Since those above cannot set themselves right, the only course is for those below to set those above right!"

His courtesy name was Jizheng, and his words were brimming with rectitude. Diwu Ba listened from the side, rather astonished by the youngest son of the old Diba family — losing that finger really had changed him!

Zhang Zhan wavered somewhat, but still said: "Jizheng, when you cite the classics, do not quote only the first half. Long ago when Ji Kangzi asked Confucius about governance, he also said this."

"'What if I were to execute the lawless in order to draw men toward the lawful?' Confucius replied, 'In governing, what need is there for killing?' If Boyu means to set those above right by those below, I fear there will be no lack of slaughter. Yet you fail to see that ten years of harsh rule do less harm than a single day of upheaval and rebellion."

"The upheaval has already been forged by Wang Mang. The Grand General's sole wish is to pacify the people."

Diba Jiao's command of the classics far outstripped Diwu Lun's. He smiled and said: "To kill or not to kill — does that not hang upon a single thought of Lord Zhang's? The virtue of the gentleman is the wind; the virtue of the common man is the grass. With Boyu's soldiers and Lord Zhang's virtue, when the wind blows over the grass, it cannot but bend! Lord Zhang commands considerable renown — if you would issue a single order, how much slaughter could be spared in Liewei Commandery?"

Zhang Zhan was won over, but he clung to one last point of principle: "Over ten years ago I was a servant of Han and could not give my full loyalty to Han. Now I am a servant of Xin and cannot be loyal to Xin. If I then follow rebels, will I not become a turncoat wretch?"

He closed his eyes: "Zhang Zhan is a failure, unworthy of the people of this commandery. From this day forward, I am nothing but a prisoner, and I will not presume to utter another word. The seal and cord are on my person — please, gentlemen, take them yourselves."

Even if Wang Mang were truly a Jie or a Zhou, he was still the man they themselves had raised up. Then he would be a Boyi or a Shuqi.

This was tacit consent, and he would probably not take his own life either — that was good enough; the man just needed to stay alive. Diba Jiao immediately took the seal and cord and presented them to Diwu Ba: "Matters are urgent — I beg the General of the Five Tombs to issue your commands!"

Here I am, an old landlord past seventy, just wanting to be a ten-thousand-household marquis before I die and have a taste of it — how did I suddenly become the master of an entire commandery…

Though Diwu Ba was obsessed with office, his main wish was for his grandson to rise steadily like sesame flowers blooming ever higher. He also knew that while he could manage well enough in the ranks, a two-thousand-bushel post was absolutely beyond him. He waved his hand: "You do it. Jizheng, you take over. What you said today, in this old man's view, already surpasses ninety-nine out of a hundred of the empire's two-thousand-bushel officials."

Diba Jiao was far more decisive than he had been in the past and knew this was no time for polite demurral. He simply said: "Then I shall use this seal provisionally to issue documents proclaiming to the ten counties of this commandery that they are to answer the call of the Grand General Who Pacifies the People. As for the post of Grand Governor, we must send word back to the Grand General and await his appointment."

With that, he immediately began drafting the documents. Before he had finished, Wang Long also arrived at Changling bearing Diwu Lun's proclamation, which could now be copied in multiple versions and distributed to the various counties together.

Wang Long also brought the company good news: "Yesterday, after General Geng crossed the Wei, his troops approached Yangling. The local magnate Yan Ben of Yangling, who had some past acquaintance with Boyu, raised his banner in response and appointed himself Magistrate of Yangling. General Geng has already continued westward to attack Anling County."

The Yangling operation had gone so smoothly precisely because the powerful families responded. The attitude of each county's local magistrate, therefore, was not really what mattered — the ones who truly had the final say were the local powerholders. Whether the great families of this commandery could rouse the whole of Liewei into action depended on whether they raised their banners or not.

This was also why Diwu Lun had sent Wang Long north across the river. He said: "The old general and Jizheng have already secured the commandery offices and the county magistrates. As for the powerful families — I shall go and persuade them myself!"

…

On the twenty-sixth day of the fifth month, at the hour of the sun's decline, north of Changling County, at Changping Lodge by the banks of the Wei River — it was here that Diwu Lun, years ago, after witnessing the great families' gathering, had composed half a poem.

The terraces, pavilions, gardens, and waterside kiosks of Changping Lodge remained as they had been; the fighting dogs still wore gold collars and gnawed great chunks of beef; the Wang family's great estate and the tenant farmers' humble huts were still as starkly divided as the Jing and Wei rivers. What was different was that the faces of the Liewei Commandery magnates gathered here no longer bore their former ease and leisurely pleasure, but were instead etched with panic.

Ever since Diwu Lun had risen in arms the day before yesterday, the news reaching the north bank of the Wei had been nothing but chaos.

"I heard that the Grand Minister of Works, Wang Yi, was defeated at Nanyang, and the Han troops drove straight through and have already fought their way into Hangu Pass!"

Xiao Yan was rather excited. A descendant of Xiao He, he was still Marquis of Xiao Township under the Xin dynasty. He had once been selected alongside Diwu Lun as a Palace Gentleman, and later served as an Officer of the Seven Ministers, sent out to conscript troops — only to sneak back home instead.

Now, Xiao Yan suddenly recalled his ancestor's oath to endure together with the Han, and had abruptly transformed into an ardent Han restorationist, clamoring to raise the Yan banner on high. Today he had even dressed entirely in deep crimson, styling himself in the robes of Han.

"The Marquis of Xiao Township's information is mistaken."

Fan Zhu, a descendant of Fan Kuai who had fared very poorly under the Xin, countered: "What I heard is that it was Diwu Lun — who was supposed to be marching south under orders — who raised his troops at Hongmen instead?"

Xiao Yan and Diwu Lun had once had a minor falling-out years ago. He frowned at this, but still insisted: "Then Diwu Lun has seen the light at last and risen to answer the Gengshi Emperor, riding as the Han's vanguard!"

The descendants of the dozen or so Han-era marquises in Liewei Commandery all nodded in agreement, delighted on the one hand that with the Han house restored, they, the progeny of meritorious officials, might recover their marquisates and fiefs. On the other hand, they rather looked down on Diwu Lun — a remnant of Tian Heng's followers and a loyal dog of Wang Mang, turning his coat at the last moment when he saw the cause was lost. Truly contemptible.

The noble Great Han was something only the old guard and their heirs were qualified to defend. You, Diwu Lun — are you even worthy to restore the Han?

In recent years, Wang Mang had grown ever harsher toward the powerful families of the Guanzhong region, demanding a tax of three thousand cash for every male and female slave, and to pay for the eastern campaign against the roving bandits, conscription had even reached their own ranks!

In the past, they could collude with the authorities to shift the burden of taxes and corvée onto the common people. But as more and more registered households fled and became refugees, the authorities could not conscript enough men, and the powerful families were forced to bleed as well.

This was intolerable. Their resentment and discontent toward the Xin had grown by the day, and they had gathered here today precisely to discuss whether to raise troops in response.

But everything still depended on the attitude of the foremost among the powerful families: Wang Yuan, Marquis of Qiongcheng.

And Wang Yuan at that very moment was in the inner courtyard, reading the proclamation Wang Long had delivered, hesitating and unable to decide.

"The magnates of Liewei have long been dissatisfied with Wang Mang and are only waiting for the right moment. If Boyu had proclaimed the restoration of the Han, all the great families would have responded at once. But this proclamation neither denounces Wang Mang's crime of usurping the Han, nor does it declare any intention to restore the governance of Emperor Gaozu or Emperor Wen. How can it win people's trust? Wenshan, tell me — what exactly does Diwu Boyu intend?"

"Intend? To oppose Wang Mang, of course!" Wang Long was not particularly sensitive to politics, and the phrases from Yang Xiong's posthumous writings in the proclamation had stirred his emotions as well. His purpose in joining this cause was more to vent his anger on behalf of his master; he had not considered the long-term implications.

Only when his uncle pointed it out did he realize the problem. He had not taken part in Diwu Lun's inner-circle discussions and was just as baffled.

But the arrow is already on the string and must be loosed. Even though Wang Long is no skilled persuader, he still strove to convince his uncle: "The situation now is just as Master Jia described — Chen Sheng and Wu Guang led weary, broken troops, a force of only a few hundred, yet turned and struck at Qin, hewing wood for weapons and raising poles for banners. They swelled into the Zhang Chu kingdom and have already reached the banks of the Xi River. Chen and Wu never promised to restore the Six Kingdoms, yet the realm gathered like clouds and answered, carrying provisions and following like shadows. The bold and worthy east of the mountains rose together and destroyed the Qin clan."

"As for whether the Han will be restored or not, that must wait until Wang Mang is destroyed. Once the deed is done, the Grand General will assemble all you lords in Chang'an to deliberate the great plan together! If you, Uncle, can lead the powerful families of Liewei in a joint uprising, what are the offices of the Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers in days to come? Hardly worth mentioning!"

But the question was — Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers under whose house? This was something even Wang Long could not make clear.

This made Wang Yuan deeply hesitant: "Setting aside ten thousand steps, Boyu — can we win?"

"If the lands north of the Wei respond, then the Five Tombs will encircle Chang'an. Victory is certain!"

Wang Long knew that Wang Yuan still wanted to sit back and watch who would prevail, so he urged with all his strength: "Uncle, other families may hesitate and watch — our family alone cannot!"

"Why?"

Wang Long said: "When I went east of the passes, the moment others heard my surname was Wang and that I came from a Marquis's house, they assumed my family were imperial kin."

Wang Yuan gave a great start: "Nonsense! My family has not the slightest connection to the Wang clan of Yuancheng!"

"Can outsiders possibly distinguish between the Empress Wang of Filial Xuan and the Empress Wang of Filial Yuan?"

Wang Long laughed: "Wang Mang's surname is Wang. My family's surname is also Wang."

"Wang Mang was a Han dynasty consort clan. My family was also a Han dynasty consort clan."

"When the Han fell, Uncle's marquisate was preserved, and the Empress Dowager Wenmu, mindful of the grace of the Empress Dowager Qiongcheng, even bestowed on us the Changping Lodge. Once the Xin are destroyed, what prospect awaits our family? The Grand General broke with Wang Mang precisely because he would not be overturned together with the Xin. Must our family cling to the ship until it sinks before we leap?"

"If the Grand General cannot prevail, and afterward the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties investigates and discovers that Uncle has been on rather close terms with the Diwu clan — that you feasted Diwu Lun, gifted Diwu Ba a fighting dog, and have me, his fellow disciple and fellow rebel — then this Changping Lodge, I fear, will also be reduced to mounds and ruins! 'Alas for men today — why are they not chastened by such calamities!'"

Indeed, their Qiongcheng Wang clan had no choice but to rebel!

Wang Yuan fell into deep thought. He read through the manifesto once more. Diwu Lun, however unaccomplished, was still a man of their own county and commandery, and his army's discipline was not bad — truly more trustworthy than the Greenwood men or the Red Eyebrows. That being the case, then take one step and watch one step! Whatever the future held, if the clan was to survive or even flourish, the Xin of Chang'an had to be destroyed!

"Just so."

He rose abruptly: "I am willing to persuade the twenty-odd powerful families of Changling and Yangling to raise a host of tens of thousands and answer Grand General Diwu! If we do not rise now, when shall we?"

…

Over the past ten-odd years, every reckless edict of Wang Mang's, every exorbitant tax levied by officials borrowing the tiger's might, had piled up kindling little by little north of the Wei. In recent years, the endless, futile campaigns abroad amid troubles at home had poured oil upon it.

The flame was kindled at Hongmen south of the Wei. Once it shot across the Wei River, the fire spread with terrifying speed. Yangling and Changling, the two great counties that held nearly half the population of Liewei Commandery, rose up one after another.

And Geng Yan and Diqi Biao, serving as Diwu Lun's torches, also arrived with several thousand troops on the twenty-seventh day of the fifth month at the tomb town of Emperor Hui of Han — Anling. They besieged one corner of the town, resting and reorganizing their troops while shooting manifestos inside to demand surrender.

Anling already lay within the bounds of Jingwei Commandery. Diwu Lun's name did not carry as well here. Inside the town, chaos reigned — officials and soldiers fled in blind panic, and the common people stared at one another in bewilderment.

A young scholar, around twenty years of age, also managed to climb the city wall. He watched the flickering, darting firelight outside and listened to the clamorous panic within the town. It seemed to portend that the age of chaos his family had long dreaded had come at last.

Ban Biao's brows were tightly knit. He could not help but sigh: "How ill-fated are we of this generation, to encounter the world's overturning, to suffer calamities that block and choke the way!"

…

PS: Skipping tonight's update. Next time (meaning next week) when I add extra chapters, I'll make up two chapters, not counting toward the alliance-leader bonus chapters.

Wishing all readers great fortune in the Year of the Ox.