Chapter 243: Good Days

The Five Tombs were the tomb towns of five Western Han emperors. From the Han founder's Changling to Emperor Zhao's Pingling, their construction and the resettlement of people to them spanned over a hundred years. But in the fifth month of the fourth year of Dihuang, the flames sweeping across the north bank of the Wei took only three days to burn from east to west, reaching Emperor Wu's Maoling.

Of the central army originally stationed on the north bank of the Wei, only the "Hu Cavalry Camp" in Chiyang County remained — and that camp had gone south on campaign with the Grand Minister of Works. The commandery troops of the Arrayed Commandant and the Capital Commandant had also been mostly transferred away, leaving the Five Tombs' defenses hollow. The six Southern Army colonels north of the Wei could still burn the Ba Bridge to block Diwu Lun's main force, but on the north bank, Geng Yan, Diqi Biao, and others, leading several thousand men, thrust in as if piercing a hollow bamboo stalk. Young Geng advanced at breakneck speed and was generous in rewarding his troops, taking a county every half day.

The "rebel army" arrived in reputation before it arrived in person. Vast Maoling was already in chaos. The gentry clans outside the city gathered to discuss whether to rise up. The Maoling Geng clan, who had assembled their kinsmen in a fortified manor, had already taken the lead after killing the Embroidered Envoy who came looking for trouble. Inside the city, local braves were also eager for action; word had it that Wan Xiu, a dashing gallant once somewhat famous in Maoling, was now in Diwu Lun's army.

Some, fearing looting by the disorderly soldiers, began fleeing outward. Liu Xin's disciple, Kong Fen — a fifteenth-generation descendant of Confucius — used the chaos to slip free of official control. Clutching his books of poetry and history, he hurried toward Longyou, intending to take refuge in Hexi. His traveling companions included many eminent Confucian scholars, who would soon carry news of the Chang'an upheaval to the ears of Longyou's braves.

Meanwhile, the city's prominent Gongsun clan left the walled town and headed south. Since the previous year, the Gongsun clan had been quietly relocating their kinsmen into Shu, leaving behind only a group of able-bodied men led by three younger brothers, who trained under the pretext of defending against bandits.

Gongsun Guang — whose elder brother had once nearly arranged a marriage proposal for him to the Ma Yuan family — galloped out of Maoling. Looking back, he saw that the city walls were already flying hastily stitched "Fifth" banners, sewn overnight. The gentry and local braves had finally decided to answer Diwu Lun's call.

"Send several riders at once, traveling light, to Shu!"

Gongsun Guang was stunned, but also stirred. Looking across the realm, those holding two-thousand-dan rank who "spanned provinces and linked commanderies" were not limited to Diwu Lun — there was also his elder brother, Gongsun Shu!

"We must inform my eldest brother immediately of the drastic changes in Guanzhong!"

…

Two hundred years ago, when the Xiongnu swept south and burned the Huizhong Road, beacon fires were visible from Sweet Spring Palace, throwing the entire court into utter shock — three alarms in a single day.

Now those beacon fires pressed even closer. The "flames" blazed fiercely across the Five Tombs, flickering over the Wei River. The scene recalled the Quanrong invasion of the Zhou capital.

The light shone on Chang'an, stinging Wang Mang so that he could not sleep. In his distress, the old Emperor could not even stomach food; he drank only wine and ate abalone to fill his belly.

Wang She and Dong Zhong had both been arrested. Wang Mang made emergency appointments: the Grand Prolonger of Autumn Zhang Han, who had distinguished himself in quelling the great treason, became State Preceptor; the Five Inner-City General Cui Fa became Grand Marshal; and the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties Chen Chong became General of the Guard, responsible for the city. Meanwhile, one report after another came from the front lines within a hundred li — all of them dire.

"Your Majesty, after Diwu Ba escaped the city, he returned to Changping (Changling) and proclaimed himself Assistant General of the Five Tombs. He has already seized the commandery office and dispatched documents to the ten counties under the Arrayed Commandant."

"Diwu Lun has sent a rebel detachment of several thousand across the Wei to attack Weiyang County (Yangling), and is pushing west toward Jiaping County (Anling)."

"Jiaping and Guangli (Pingling) have both fallen. Even the Capital County (Maoling) has lost communication — I fear…"

"Three days — in just three days, all Five Tombs are lost?"

This meant that of the "Six Commandant Armies to Rescue the Throne" that Wang Mang had been counting on, at the very least the two northern commanderies could no longer be hoped for — they had instead gone over to Diwu Lun.

And the edict summoning Wang Mang's cousin, the Grand Governor of Anding Wang Xiang — the very man who had once presented "Lu Fang's head" — to come to the throne's aid in the west was also blocked at Tianshui. It was said that Tianshui bandits had sealed the roads, cutting off east-west passage for the time being.

The only good news came from the east: "Your Majesty, great joy! The General of Ningzhi and the Front General have checked Diwu Lun at the Ba River. For three full days, the enemy has attempted several forced crossings and failed, suffering extremely heavy losses!"

"Heavy losses" meant that a dozen or so men had been swept away by the swift currents while attempting the crossing. Diwu Lun was in no hurry. He had Wan Xiu making earth-filled sacks, preparing to dam the upstream waters at the right moment, while he waited for the sparks on the north bank of the Wei to set the plain ablaze.

If the east had not been mentioned, it would have been fine. But the moment it was, Wang Mang's anger flared. He demanded, "I have issued twelve peremptory orders. Why have Shi Chen and Wang Sheng still not launched an attack to crush Diwu Lun? I have sustained the Northern Army with the entire state's wealth for over ten years. To use elite troops to strike Diwu Lun's hastily assembled force is certain victory — why do they not move?"

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Cui Fa said carefully, "Your Majesty, the Ba Bridge was burned and destroyed in the fighting. Forcing a river crossing is no easy matter, and we risk being exploited by the rebel Diwu. Moreover, the two generals must both guard the Ba Bridge and divide their forces to watch the three Wei bridges, to prevent the Five Tombs rebels from descending south to strike their flank."

All the military strength still loyal to Wang Mang around Chang'an was pinned down along the Ba and Wei river lines, unable to move. On top of that, a change of colonels a few days earlier had left everyone uneasy and even less inclined to fight.

Wang Mang slumped behind his desk, feeling once again that he had been deceived. The generals and high ministers had all boasted of the Northern Army's elite quality, telling the Emperor to rest assured that every coin and every dan of grain issued had been put to the best use. Once the Northern Army was deployed, it would be more than enough to sweep away rebels in all directions — it was just that a butcher's ox-cleaver was not suited for killing chickens, so it had not been used against the Xiongnu, the Gouding, or the Red Eyebrows. Only when dealing with the Greenwood Han Emperor had two camps been dispatched, and that was enough to rout the enemy.

Yet now, with the forces of six colonels, they were so intimidated by Diwu Lun's tens of thousands of rabble and country bumpkins that they could only defend and dared not attack, leaving the capital surrounded by rebels from the north and east. This utterly disillusioned Wang Mang.

Under the influence of despair and alcohol, he actually asked in confusion, "Where are the Grand Minister of Works' reinforcements? How far have they come?"

That "four-hundred-thousand-strong" army of Wang Yi and Wang Xun had become Wang Mang's last hope.

Cui Fa, Zhang Han, and the others looked at one another. "Your Majesty, the rebels occupy the area between the Ba and Xi rivers. Dispatches to the Grand Minister of Works can only depart from Lantian, taking a detour through the Right Corps (Hongnong). At this very moment, they likely have not even reached Luoyang. And the Grand Minister of Works and the Grand Chancellor are both in the Left Corps, probably already engaged with the Greenwood forces…"

Even if the two men, upon receiving the news, immediately turned their chariots and cavalry around to race back to the rescue, abandoning the Nanyang Greenwood forces, they would not reach Chang'an until autumn.

Since distant water cannot quench a nearby fire, on the night of the twenty-eighth day of the fifth month, Wang Mang could only ring the bell within the palace to summon his ministers for a council. He discovered that far fewer had come than before — some of the Nine Ministers, seeing the chaos outside, had seized the chance to flee. Wang Mang flew into a towering rage, cursing the traitors, and ordered a roll call. All who had failed to attend were summarily dismissed and posted for arrest.

Fortunately, the chief ministers were still present. Faced with Wang Mang's question, "What is to be done now?", the men who were normally fond of lofty discourse looked at each other and, for a long while, said not a word.

"Grand Mentor, you are the elder statesman of the court. You speak first."

Wang Mang called upon the aged Grand Mentor Tang Zun by name. Tang Zun still wore a short jacket and worn shoes, eating and drinking from earthenware vessels, maintaining his persona of incorruptible purity. His chief achievement in gaining his marquisate had been assisting Wang Mang in vigorously promoting moral edification throughout the realm, seeking to recreate in Chang'an the governance Confucius had achieved in Zhongdu, so that no one would pick up lost articles on the road and men and women would walk on separate sides of the street.

The method of implementation, however, was this: first, send Jingzhao officials to throw coins on the ground as a sting operation, then crouch nearby to keep watch. If anyone bent down to pick up a coin, they would rush over in a clamor, pin the person to the ground, and haul them off to the authorities for severe punishment. After a few rounds of this, no one really picked up money on the ground anymore — or perhaps it was because the new coinage was depreciating by the day and no longer worth the bend.

The "men and women on separate paths" policy was even more absurd. They also assigned people to watch the streets; if a man and a woman walked side by side, they would rush over and fiercely flog them with a filthy cloth soaked in muddy water as punishment. Eventually, even a father or mother holding their pigtailed child's hand while going to market would be harassed. For a long time, married couples in Chang'an could only escape this ordeal if the wife dressed in men's clothing when they went out.

And now, at this moment, when asked for a strategy to repel the enemy, Tang Zun could only kneel and kowtow — thud, thud — tears streaming down his face, utterly devoid of a single plan. All he could say was, "I wish only to die to repay Your Majesty's profound kindness."

"I do not want you to die — I want you to produce a plan!"

Wang Mang, frustrated, turned to ask the newly appointed Grand Marshal Cui Fa. Cui Fa, in his new position, applied himself to its duties. With the court now suffering from a critical shortage of troops, he came up with a brilliant idea.

"Your Majesty, why not grant amnesty to the prisoners in the city jails, issue them all weapons, slaughter a pig and have them drink its blood, and make them swear an oath: 'Should any fail to serve the Xin Dynasty, let the spirits of the land and grain take note!'"

What kind of idea was this? Was it not just the story of King Zhou of Shang sending seven hundred thousand convicts to battle King Wu of Zhou at Muye? Useless, all of them useless. Wang Mang was furious. His gaze moved to the next person: the newly appointed General of the Guard, Chen Chong, who, like Yang Xiong, was now lame and had to enter the hall leaning on a staff.

Chen Chong had never imagined that Diwu Lun would actually rebel, and so decisively at that. The small smugness he had felt at turning the tables on Wang She at the brink of death had now transformed into terror and unease. Everyone knew of the enmity between Chen Chong and Diwu Lun, and now the situation was dire — Chang'an was surrounded. If that young man prevailed and Chen Chong fell into his hands, death was certain.

Chen Chong's eyes darted, and he brought up a seemingly unrelated matter: "In the Shijianguo years, Your Majesty issued an edict, saying that in antiquity, the two Zhou rulers each received the Mandate, hence there were the Eastern Capital and the Western Capital. The Xin's reception of the Mandate is likely the same. Thus Luoyang was made the Xin's Eastern Capital, and Chang'an the Xin's Western Capital. The royal domains are linked as one body, each with its own fiefs and appointments."

This was indeed a grand undertaking that Wang Mang had long intended but failed to carry out. He had even specially dispatched men to produce the Dark Dragon Stone Text and craft a prophetic augury — "Establish the Imperial Virtue, make the capital Luoyang" — intending to fulfill the Mandate of Heaven by relocating the capital.

But it was later delayed for several years by the death of Wang Zhengjun. As the situation east of the passes grew increasingly dire, the court lacked even the funds to move the capital, and the plan had to be abandoned.

Now, by bringing up this old matter, Chen Chong was trying to persuade Wang Mang to emulate the Zhou Son of Heaven's eastern inspection tour — to abandon the imperiled Chang'an and go to Luoyang to seek refuge with Wang Yi and Wang Xun, who were far in the east!

Your Majesty, rather than be a King You of Zhou, better to be a King Ping of Zhou!

Chen Chong said, "Although the rebels control east of the Ba and north of the Wei, Lantian is still in the hands of the Garrison Cavalry Camp. Your Majesty could take the palace household and imperial kin, have the Central Rampart Camp provide escort, and proceed from Lantian to Hongnong to rendezvous with the Grand Minister of Works. Then you could dispatch troops to retake Chang'an — it would not be too late…"

But Wang Mang now felt unsafe even staying in the Shoucheng Hall; how would he dare to recklessly flee? Before he could wave his sleeve in dismissal, a voice rang out loudly in the hall: "Your Majesty, I request that Chen Chong be executed!"

Everyone looked — it was the Minister of Works (Privy Treasurer) Song Hong, courtesy name Zhongzi, who had often remonstrated with Wang Mang with loyal and upright words, only to be cold-shouldered, and had since spoken little, merely doing his work in silence.

Song Hong, ordinarily mild-mannered, today harshly denounced Chen Chong: "The morale of the Northern Army's colonels is already low. If Your Majesty abandons them and flees, I fear they will all collapse in a single morning, perhaps even turning traitor. Moreover, rebel patrols are spread all along the Ba River line, reaching south to the Lantian Mountains. Your Majesty's eastern inspection could never be concealed from them. If Diwu Lun intercepts you with his main army, Your Majesty will be caught between advance and retreat. Why abandon a great metropolis and strong walls, only to deliver yourself bound into the open countryside?"

Song Hong's rebuttal was well-reasoned and substantiated. Chen Chong could only kowtow and apologize, saying he had not thought it through.

In truth, his thinking had been quite thorough. He was not merely urging Wang Mang to abandon the capital for Luoyang; rather, once they were out of Chang'an, Chen Chong intended to seize Wang Mang and head south, fleeing toward Hanzhong and the Shu region — the farther from Diwu Lun, the better.

Wang Mang then asked, "Minister of Works Song, do you have a good strategy to defeat the rebels?"

"The only strategy now is to rely on the six colonels of the Northern Army." Song Hong pinpointed the crux of the matter: "It is not that the Northern Army's armor and weapons are not sharp, nor that their training is not excellent. The reason they cannot deal with the rebels is simply low morale."

"Now, Your Majesty has ordered the Nine Tiger Generals to command the Northern Army and has taken their wives and children into the palace as hostages, but that is still not enough. I know that the palace treasury still holds over six hundred thousand jin of gold, and the other goods originally intended for the grand wedding are also abundant. Would Your Majesty not be better off distributing a thousand jin of this wealth among the soldiers, so that after receiving this reward, they will fight desperately to the death?"

"Good." Wang Mang nodded and ordered Song Hong to arrange this: "For the Northern Army soldiers — one bolt of silk per man… and distribute ten thousand… no, distribute forty thousand in cash!"

Wang Mang was uncharacteristically generous for once. But with Xin Dynasty officials handling these matters, even if Song Hong himself was incorruptible, after these benefits filtered down layer by layer, exactly how much the common soldier would ultimately receive was anyone's guess.

The old Emperor still felt it insufficient, and finally asked the newly appointed State Preceptor, Zhang Han — the man who had assisted Wang Mang in reviving the well-field system and was also versed in yin-yang and esoteric arts. Perhaps he would have some profound insight!

Zhang Han then said: "Your Majesty, the Rites of Zhou and the Zuo Tradition of the Spring and Autumn Annals record that when the state suffers a great calamity, one should weep to suppress it. Your Majesty should now hasten to the southern suburbs to petition Imperial Heaven, the Supreme One on High. Since Imperial Heaven has decreed the mandate to the Xin, why would it not annihilate the mass of rebels and strike down the traitor Diwu Lun with heavenly thunder!?"

What sort of idea was this? Even the superstitious Wang Mang listened in stunned disbelief. Would it work? But an event that occurred next forced him to heed Zhang Han's words.

"Your Majesty, a strange sign has appeared in the heavens!" The Grand Astrologer came rushing in to report.

Wang Mang, Zhang Han, and the assembled ministers thus emerged from the Wanglu Hall. They raised their heads, and at once were struck dumb with shock.

They saw, upon the vault of heaven, Venus streaming into the Supreme Palace enclosure, its light illuminating the earth like moonlight!

……

"Heaven aids me, Heaven aids me!"

Diwu Lun, who had already been waiting three days by the banks of the Ba River, also raised his head to gaze upward. There was no moon tonight; the light of Venus, the Great White Star, shone upon his face.

These three days of waiting had been worth it. Not only had word come that all of the Five Tombs north of the Wei had been taken, and that tens of thousands of responders would strike the three Wei bridges tomorrow — there was also this unexpected delight.

"Send word to Junyou at once. Have the soldiers throw the prepared earth sacks into the water. Tomorrow we cross the Ba!"

Diwu Lun stared fixedly, watching this rare and wondrous celestial phenomenon, like a signal flare illuminating the sky, and said to himself: "Is there any better signal for the general assault than this!"

"Venus governs war; the Supreme Palace enclosure is the Celestial Court. Venus, triumphant, enters the Supreme Palace from the north — this signifies a great host about to enter the court of the Son of Heaven!"

"The State Preceptor, Duke Liu Xin, did not miscalculate. Four-seven twenty-eight — it is indeed an auspicious day!"

Only that prophecy — one word must be changed.

"When the four and seven meet, Metal shall be master!"

……

PS: Chapter 2 at 18:00.