Chapter 249: The Grand Supply Chief

Diwu Lun had entered the Shoucheng Chamber to see Wang Mang several times before, always through the Canglong Gate at the eastern watchtower, and very rarely by the Xuanwu Gate at the northern watchtower.

This was mainly because, ever since the Han dynasty, the political functions of the two watchtowers had differed: the eastern watchtower was used to receive inner vassal lords bringing tribute and ministers attending court, and just outside its gate lay the Chancellor's residence and the Shangguan Ward where the ministers lived.

The northern watchtower, as the formal main gate, was mostly used to hang the heads of various barbarian kings, chanyus, and Yue kings — if your status wasn't high enough, you didn't even qualify for the wall. Whenever barbarians came to court, the Grand Herald and the Director of Dependent States would lead them from the Barbarian Residence all the way to the northern watchtower for a tour, pointing up at the watchtower and cheerfully recounting whose head had hung where.

But there was one scenario that neither the Han nor the Xin had encountered in over two hundred years: an outside army entering the capital, the low overthrowing the high, the victors not sheathing their blades, not binding their armor, marching openly and imposingly in through the northern watchtower.

This feeling was utterly different from walking cautiously through the palace as a subject. Diwu Lun could finally understand what Liu Bang had felt when he first entered the Xianyang Palace.

A straight boulevard led directly to the towering palace halls ahead. Officials and guards prostrated themselves on both sides; palace attendants stole timid glances up at you; countless armored soldiers clustered behind. Between heaven and earth, I alone am supreme — the center of the world lies beneath my feet, and treading upon it, I can ascend to the pinnacle of power. Truly, one ought to cry out: "This is how a great man should be!"

And the officers and soldiers under his command felt the same, every one of them grinning, self-satisfaction written all over their faces. Some were also looking left and right, eyes wide: "So this is the Emperor's fortress — it's so enormous, can he even live in all of it?"

"We'll live in it for him!" someone had already declared with great enthusiasm, ready to spend the night inside. But one look at the palace maids and they were dumbfounded — Wang Mang had only kept the old and ugly leftovers from the Han era, and in all these ten-plus years had taken hardly any new ones.

The State General Zhao Hong, who had surrendered outside just earlier, had at least done something practical: he had restrained the palace guards, sealed the Shoucheng Chamber gates tightly, and prevented disorderly soldiers and ruffians from rushing in to grab gold, silver, and valuables. Now the defense had been taken over by Diwu Lun, who also assigned heavy troops to guard the four watchtowers.

"Boqing." Diwu Lun called over Ren Guang, who had just arrived: "Take men and go separately to the Imperial Secretariat and the offices of the Three Dukes, the Four Advisors, and the Nine Ministers within the palace. Seal and archive all documents — especially the maps of the empire's mountains and rivers, and the household registers and tax records."

Ren Guang acknowledged the order and left. Diwu Lun was simply using him as a budget version of Xiao He.

He then called over Diba Jiao, who had come from the north of the city to report that the clan troops had already crossed the Wei River: "Jizheng, you are skilled in poetry and documents — go at once to the Tianlu Pavilion, the Shiqu Pavilion, and the Qilin Pavilion, and safeguard the classical texts."

This one could serve the role that Liu Jiao, Prince Yuan of Chu, had played in the Han.

As for Diwu Lun himself, he headed straight for the Office of the Minister of Works.

Although Wang Mang had changed its name, the Minister of Works had the same function as the Privy Treasurer: responsible for levying taxes on mountains, seas, lakes, and marshes, and storing local tribute for palace use; it also had to set up numerous workshops to meet all the palace's needs for clothing, food, daily life, hunting excursions, and amusements.

Its structure was therefore enormous, and among its offices was one called the "Director of the Inner Treasury," specifically responsible for storing the gold and silks that the Privy Treasurer had collected — and it was located right within the palace precincts!

What surprised Diwu Lun was that while Chang'an was in chaos everywhere, with even the various palace offices no exception — most people had fled, each worrying about their own family, and everything was basically paralyzed —

The various agencies under the Office of the Minister of Works alone were still operating. The office clerks stood guard outside with blades, having cut down quite a few palace guards who had tried to take advantage of the chaos to loot; corpses lay fallen before the gates.

Only when Diwu Lun arrived with his men, and they saw the situation was hopeless, did they throw down their weapons and surrender without resistance.

Diwu Lun stepped down from his carriage and swept his gaze over these officials who had held their posts to the very last moment: "Where is Song Zhongzi, the Minister of Works?"

"I am Song Hong."

The crowd parted, and a man walked out, stopped ten paces away from Diwu Lun.

Although Diwu Lun had seen him once or twice in the palace before, they had never spoken. Song Hong was imposing in bearing, dignified and commanding. In terms of handsome looks, the most outstanding man Diwu Lun had ever seen was Ma Yuan, and this Song Hong was no less his equal — old man Ma could well ask: "Between me and Lord Song of Chang'an, who is the fairer?"

Diwu Lun stepped down from the carriage, walked up to Song Hong, and said: "The State General and the others all came out to welcome me. Among the Nine Ministers still in Chang'an, only Minister of Works Song was absent — why?"

"Today is not a rest day." Song Hong spoke stiffly and formally, giving Diwu Lun no pleasant expression.

"That being the case, I was bound to defend the Office of the Minister of Works to the very last moment."

"A fine Song Zhongzi indeed — one who does not shirk his duty even when Mount Tai collapses before him. I have made a five-article covenant with the people of Chang'an: officials of two thousand piculs and below shall retain their posts. Would Lord Song be willing to continue keeping his?"

Song Hong lifted his head high: "I keep it for His Majesty, not for a rebel."

"How dare you!" The officers behind Diwu Lun flared with rage, but Diwu Lun stopped them.

Diwu Lun said: "His Majesty... Wang Mang, he abandoned the capital, abandoned all of you, and fled."

"He was forced to leave by his own ministers!" Song Hong's gaze fixed deathly on Diwu Lun: "Diwu Boyu, you turned traitor as a subject of the Xin — you have betrayed His Majesty's great expectations!"

Faced with this accusation, Diwu Lun actually breathed a sigh of relief, and even felt a touch of emotion. He had been in Chang'an for nearly a shichen now, and had seen those who kowtowed and begged to surrender, and those who summoned the soul of the former dynasty. Song Hong was the first to denounce him for "betraying the Xin" — which showed just how pitifully few loyal subjects the Great Xin truly had.

Diwu Lun sighed: "Wang Mang also betrayed our great expectations — and, more than that, betrayed the whole empire. Superstitiously trusting in the Mandate of Heaven, brutal and oppressive to the people. Someone had to rise up and overthrow him."

This was the truth. Song Hong had once strenuously petitioned Wang Mang to distribute the gold he had accumulated over many years to the soldiers of the Northern Army to boost morale, but Wang Mang had instead pinned his hopes on wailing to Heaven at the southern suburb, which had utterly disappointed Song Hong and left his heart cold.

It was too late to say anything now. He did not continue to rebuke Diwu Lun, but merely clasped his hands: "I have heard that he who eats another's food dies for that other's cause. Hong is now a captive — death alone remains. Please, carry it out!"

Diwu Lun shook his head: "Lord Song is an old friend of my old friend Huan Tan. If I harmed Lord Song, Huan Junshan would surely denounce me bitterly."

He drew close to Song Hong and said in a low voice: "In my view, every civil and military official in this city can be killed — except Song Zhongzi. The strong wind reveals the sturdy grass; chaos in the state reveals the loyal minister! Though I have rebelled against Wang Mang, toward Lord Song, I feel only admiration."

These words left Song Hong unsure how to respond. Diwu Lun smiled: "I have already sent men to protect Lord Song's residence. Your duty is fulfilled — you may return home and reunite with your family."

"Men, escort Lord Song home!"

Seeing his soldiers' fierce and menacing looks, Diwu Lun pulled them aside and gave one more warning: "I mean truly escort him home. If he commits suicide or is harmed, I will hold you accountable."

Song Hong was wholly uncooperative, but his subordinate, the Director of the Inner Treasury, was quite obliging. He guided Diwu Lun, leading a group of soldiers into the inner vaults.

"How should I address the Director of the Inner Treasury?"

"Grand General, this humble man is named Huang Jin."

What a fine name! Gold was exactly what Diwu Lun had come looking for!

A very large area of the Office of the Minister of Works within the palace was given over to storehouses. The Central Supply Office, the Right Supply Office, and the like stored jade tablets for suburban sacrifices, ritual and musical implements, as well as empresses' and consorts' garments with carved patterns and intricate colors. The former were numerous and elaborate; the latter were few and crude — one could see where Wang Mang's interests lay.

The Inner Treasury, however, was the place specifically for storing money and valuables. As for the money, there was no need to look — under Wang Mang's tampering, copper coinage had been thoroughly ruined, and many provinces and commanderies had reverted to barter. Everyone had been burned by Wang Mang; rebuilding the financial system would be a colossal undertaking.

But there was one precious metal that was a symbol of wealth, capable of withstanding the upheavals of chaotic times, and even two thousand years later, would still hold its value, glittering and gleaming.

When door after door was opened, when the thick hemp cloths were pulled back, the afternoon sunlight set the treasury ablaze with the glint of gold.

Those allowed to enter were all the officers Diwu Lun trusted most, but even Zang Nu, the captain of his personal guard, had his big eyes bulging wide.

Gold — all of it gold cakes stored and stacked like little mountains! Zang Nu had little schooling and didn't know how to describe it. It was like, like...

"Like the hu cakes baked and sold at the market stalls in Xin Qinzhong county town!"

Each one round and plump, radiating warmth. A soldier couldn't resist reaching out to touch one, then pulled his hand back as if truly burned. Even those who didn't pull back were glared at fiercely by Zang Nu and sheepishly put them down — but they all swallowed hard, desperately wanting to grab a handful and tuck it into their robes.

Diwu Lun picked up a gold cake and weighed it in his hand. One jin apiece — equivalent to about two taels in later times — and the purity was excellent, the fineness very high.

"How many gold cakes does the Inner Treasury hold in total?"

The Director of the Inner Treasury reported: "The large cabinets for storing gold are called gui. One gui can hold ten thousand gold cakes. Sixty gui means six hundred thousand cakes."

He looked at the thin ledger in his hand: "Previously, His Maj—... Wang Mang's wailing to Heaven and his distributions to the various regiments of the Northern Army used up over a hundred thousand cakes. What remains now is a total of four hundred eighty-seven thousand six hundred cakes."

He added one final note: "All personally inventoried by Lord Song — absolutely no false reporting."

Song Hong was indeed a rare stream of clear water in the Great Xin's officialdom. Diwu Lun nodded, then heard the Director of the Inner Treasury say that the vast majority of these gold cakes came from the legacy of the Han dynasty.

"In the Han, the Privy Treasurer had separate Gold Offices and Copper Offices. All gold mines in the empire were under the Privy Treasurer's control. The gold of Ru Han, the gold of Li River — gold extracted from every location all converged into the palace. That accounts for half."

"The other half came from local tribute. Emperor Wu of Han instituted the gold tribute system — every vassal king and marquis in the empire had to submit gold cakes to the court. If the purity was off, they were stripped of their titles directly. Who would dare adulterate it under those terms?"

"They had to scrape together every last bit. In the Han dynasty, there were many marquises, and the Privy Treasurer could collect over a thousand gold ingots a year — and that went on for a hundred years."

The treasures of Yan and Zhao, the accumulations of Hann and Wei, the finest goods of Qi and Chu — for generations and years, the feudal lords plundered their people, piling wealth high as mountains, only to be forced to send it here. No wonder the Han emperors spent gold so lavishly, casually giving ten thousand jin just to marry an empress.

Even more intriguing, a small portion of that gold was actually foreign exchange!

The Prefect of the Central Treasury said, "It came from the Western Regions. The barbarians are vain and covet the silks of the Central Plains. Since the time of Emperor Xuan of Han, barbarian merchants have bought silk with gold at Yumen and Dunhuang, bringing in over a hundred jin every year."

He also showed Diwu Lun gold coins from Parthia, Bactria, and Rome, engraved with human faces and letters — many gold ingots were melted down and recast from them.

Of course, the Silk Road was cut off after the Western Regions kingdoms rebelled when Wang Mang took power, so the foreign exchange ceased.

But Wang Mang declared it a crime to hold gold and confiscated it once more across the provinces and commanderies. In this way, virtually all the gold under heaven was concentrated in the imperial court.

If you add the gold used for ornamentation at the Yellow Gate, the Hook-and-Shield Office, and the Imperial Manufactory, the total must be six hundred thousand jin. In peacetime, one gold ingot was worth about ten thousand cash. Now the currency system has collapsed and copper coins have devalued, but gold still holds its value — it is hard currency, just like silk cloth and grain.

Diwu Lun could only marvel at his own good fortune, to have come at the very peak of the central gold reserves. And Wang Mang, who hoarded this gold as if it could bear him sons, was always loath to spend it — now it all fell cheaply into Diwu Lun's hands!

To that supreme transport brigade commander Wang Mang, who supplied Greenwood and the Red Eyebrows with countless arms and armor, and then left him so much grain, gold, and silk, Diwu Lun wanted to say just one heartfelt thing.

"Thank you!"

…

Diwu Lun had heard that back when Emperor Gao of Han, Liu Bang, was routed and fleeing everywhere by Xiang Yu during the Chu-Han Contention, his advisor Chen Ping suggested using gold to bribe and corrupt Xiang Yu's ministers. Liu Bang gladly agreed, producing forty thousand gold ingots at once and giving them to Chen Ping to use as he pleased, asking no accounting.

Sure enough, the allure of gold was immense. Many of Xiang Yu's advisors and great generals were successively estranged and turned, achieving Liu Bang's great enterprise.

And in the time of Emperor Wu of Han, when Grand General Wei Qing dealt the Xiongnu a crushing blow south of the desert, Liu Che, in his delight, at once bestowed two hundred thousand jin of gold on the entire army's officers and men.

As the saying goes, rewards must not be delayed. By nightfall, Ren Guang and Diba Jiao had returned from the various government offices and the Tianlu Pavilion after completing their task of registering the maps and documents. Diwu Lun had them calculate an account.

"Including the clan troops, I still have roughly forty thousand men under my command."

"The baseline reward: one gold ingot per man, plus one bolt of silk cloth from the Ministry of Works stores — no one is to receive less."

"For those units that distinguished themselves in battle, add one more bolt of silk cloth."

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"For the eight hundred officers and men who came west with me, according to their merits, the lesser receive five ingots, the greater ten."

As for senior officers above the rank of Major, the rewards were even greater.

In this way, a hundred thousand jin of gold was spent, along with nearly all the remaining silk cloth in the Ministry of Works — much of it was betrothal gifts Wang Mang had prepared for marrying a new empress! The soldiers of the three armies would need to carry it for a long time to haul it all away.

Diwu Lun had to be sparing with the gold, for it would be hard to acquire more in the short term — spend one ingot and lose one. Silk cloth, however, he could distribute more generously. Once they held territory and encouraged mulberry and hemp cultivation, it could be woven in an endless supply.

But there was still a problem. Ren Guang reminded Diwu Lun: "Wang Mang also distributed over a hundred thousand jin of gold to reward the various regiments of the Northern Army — it's said each man was to receive four jin. The gold shipped from the Ministry of Works was full weight, but by the time it reached the front lines, it had shrunk by more than half. When it was handed out to the rank and file, each man got at most half an ingot, and some got nothing at all. Hence their resentment and unwillingness to fight hard — that's why our army could cross the Wei so easily."

It is not scarcity that is to be feared, but inequality. Unfair rewards and punishments lead to disaster. But with a force like Diwu Lun's, if he foolishly let his subordinates distribute the rewards on their own as Wang Mang had done, human greed would flare up, and they would likely repeat the same mistake.

So Diwu Lun thought of an extremely clumsy, yet absolutely effective method.

"I will distribute them personally!"

Diwu Lun said, "The first batch: the baseline one ingot per man. Starting tomorrow, I will take men and carts loaded with gold to inspect every unit. I must see with my own eyes that the gold ingots are placed into every soldier's hands!"

Forty thousand men — and their encampments were not even in the same place. This meant Diwu Lun would have to make a great circuit around Chang'an. It was indeed terribly troublesome.

But when one aims to take all under heaven, can one shrink from trouble?

Diwu Lun might have the righteous cause of expelling Wang Mang, but since he chose not to rely on the Han banner, the kind of bloodless submission where a single proclamation settles everything was basically out of the question. Every piece of territory would have to be taken by force of arms and won by stratagem. On this arduous road, his greatest reliance was still strong soldiers and sturdy horses!

The problem of distributing rewards to win the army's heart — old Wang Mang had attempted it, but he did not know the solution. He scribbled nonsense and got it utterly wrong.

Now it was Diwu Lun's turn. Since shortcuts could not solve it, to earn this crucial point, what else could he do but count on his fingers and work it out the hard way?

What was more, this action would also let the soldiers know: who was it that gave them this gold!

This policy was settled. Just then, Feng Yan, who had been ordered to interrogate the Han dynasty old loyalists, returned and hurriedly reported to Diwu Lun.

"Grand General, Gongsun Lu, shamed beyond endurance by your servant's words, has hanged himself at home!"

His hands were still trembling. This was truly the night Feng Yan severed all ties with the Han restorationists — from now on, there was no turning back.

"But we have searched everyone's homes, and even interrogated many under torture, yet we still do not know the whereabouts of the child Liu Ying!"

It wasn't the former Han old loyalists who did it?

Diwu Lun furrowed his brow. This matter was growing more and more intriguing.

"Who could it be?"

…

On that same night of the thirtieth day of the fifth month, between Feng and Hao, a few dozen li west of Chang'an — this was the old ruins of the Western Zhou, already considered the capital's outskirts.

After learning the previous night that Wang Mang had gone on a southern inspection tour, many Chang'an residents fled the city. Some went south, but the majority fled west — a full ten to twenty thousand people.

At Hao Pool, the fleeing scholars and commoners encountered Geng Yan's force, which had just smashed the Shooting Sound Battalion at the West Wei Bridge and crossed the river southward. Carrying torches, they were heading toward Jianzhang Palace west of Chang'an.

The Chang River Barbarian Horsemen, originally ordered by Wang Mang to reinforce the Shooting Sound Battalion at the Wei River, chose to retreat westward in formation once they saw the tide turning. Most were Qiang and barbarian auxiliaries from the six commanderies of Longxi — where else could they go but home? Along the way, they did their share of burning, killing, and looting.

In this chaos of war, those who chose to flee often met disaster. But one party of several dozen men, fully armed, crossed the Feng River safely and reached a small fortified manor.

Only after returning to his own fortified manor did the Anling county man Gong Lin pat his chest and say, "We're back at last."

Gong Lin was one of the powerful families of Guanzhong. His ancestor had been a Grand Master of the Palace under Emperor Wu of Han, and his family had properties on both sides of the Wei River. When the political situation shifted, he happened to be in Chang'an. Learning that Wang Mang had fled, he too wanted to escape, but was dragged by an audacious traveling companion to do something that, if spoken of, would terrify anyone to death!

Impersonating Diwu Lun's soldiers, they went to the Grand Herald's office and took the child Liu Ying out!

Gong Lin had been anxious and terrified the whole journey, but his friend Fang Wang was utterly unruffled, as if nothing had happened. He helped Liu Ying — already seventeen or eighteen years old, yet still like a fool, crying and making a scene at the sight of anyone — out of the carriage.

This made Gong Lin sigh with feeling: "Zhanzhi, your courage is truly immense!"

"In these chaotic times, without a bit of courage, how can one achieve great things?" Fang Wang was ugly of countenance, wore a three-pronged beard, and was dressed in Confucian robes, yet he faced events without alarm, as if everything lay within his grasp.

But Gong Lin was still puzzled, thinking Fang Wang was heading in the wrong direction. "I have associated with you, Zhanzhi, for over ten years, and I know you possess considerable wisdom and stratagem. Ten years ago, you said the Xin dynasty of Wang Mang would inevitably collapse and that one should not serve it — and now it has indeed come to pass."

"But why did you not seek an audience with Diwu Lun? I hear he recruits the worthy and welcomes scholars, and he is the great hero who drove out Wang Mang. Now that he has entered Chang'an, he is bound to accomplish something. If you, Zhanzhi, could offer your service, with your wisdom, you would surely be given important office!"

Fang Wang had someone settle Liu Ying, then replied dismissively, "When Guanzhong fell into chaos, I traveled from Pingling to Chang'an precisely to wait for Diwu Lun."

"Yet a few days ago, the moment I read his proclamation, I knew…"

"Diwu Lun has chosen the difficult path over the easy one. He intends to discard the great banner of Han restoration and style himself a Tang or Wu, conquering the realm by force. He goes against the great trend. Never mind his prestige today — sooner or later, he will be defeated and destroyed!"

…

PS: Chapter 2 at 18:00.