Chapter 277: The Weight of the Cauldron

Though the Greenwood Army has also set up a Han emperor, that Liu Xuan is nothing but a puppet propped up by roving bandits. Their army's discipline is utterly vile — wherever their commanderies and counties pass, they slaughter at will, no different from the Red Eyebrows. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is the Empress Dowager of the Former Han, not the Empress Dowager of some Greenwood Han. A nobleman's son does not sit beneath a crumbling hall. I beg you to move the imperial carriage with the army north of the Wei River!

Diwu Lun gave Wang Yan no chance to refuse. He had not come to request instructions, merely to notify her. Having spoken, he withdrew without waiting for Wang Yan's reply, leaving her stunned by the news. A long moment later, she turned to look at Yin Lihua.

"Is the Greenwood Army's discipline truly so terrible?"

It truly was — Yin Lihua could attest to it. While her father was still alive, he had cursed the Greenwood men until his spittle flew, saying that compared to the imperial army, it was merely the pot calling the kettle black. Yet the brothers Liu Bosheng had a rather good reputation among them; if they were the ones to enter the pass, they might well treat the Empress Dowager decently. But on both these points, Yin Lihua could guarantee nothing, so she merely nodded.

Even she, if she remained in Chang'an, might well be "caught in the crossfire" by the Greenwood men. Diwu Lun could restrain his own troops from laying hands on a delicate, alluring beauty like her — but could the Greenwood chieftains? Far better to stay by Wang Yan's side; with Diwu Lun's protection, her safety could still be assured.

This meant, of course, that Wang Yan would have to move house yet again. Who knew how long this vagabond existence would drag on? But at least she was better off than her father. Word had it that the new emperor, on his southern hunt, was facing Greenwood attacks in Hanzhong as well — was Wang Mang even still alive?

At that moment, the matron who had escorted Diwu Lun out of the palace returned, knelt, and reported Diwu Lun's words and actions to Wang Yan.

"When General Diwu Lun was leaving, he noticed the small horse-drawn carriage Her Majesty ordinarily rides parked outside."

"He then asked this lowly servant: how heavy a load can this little carriage carry, and how far can it travel?"

The sheer gall!

Wang Yan was so furious that the curse squeezed out through clenched teeth: "And he calls himself a disciple of Yang Ziyun! What 'General Who Keeps the Rites' — he is plainly a General of Barbarians! How is he any different from the Greenwood bandits he rails against?"

In ancient times, the King of Chu, styling himself a barbarian, inquired about the weight of the Nine Cauldrons.

And now this Diwu Lun —

he inquires about the weight of the Empress Dowager!

…

As far as Diwu Lun was concerned, Wang Yan might be a bit of a chicken rib — but there was still a little meat on it… no, that's not right — she still had some use.

She was the Yellow Imperial Princess of the Xin Dynasty. As for the Xin, if one insisted on strictly weighing the great bond between sovereign and subject, Diwu Lun, for all his loud cries of "comforting the people and punishing the wicked," had to admit, in personal terms, that Wang Mang had truly treated him not ungenerously. The old emperor had fled in panic; Diwu Lun need only execute the people's vermin — there was no call to bay for Wang Yan's blood.

Because Wang Yan was fiercely protective of her reputation. Even the old ministers working to restore the Han praised her as "gentle and graceful by nature, with the integrity of righteous conduct." Her name was far better than Wang Mang's.

She was also the Empress Dowager Xiaoping of the Han Dynasty. Though the Diwu clan and the other families of Linqu Township had been forcibly relocated by the Han, strictly speaking, whether it was the Tian brothers' repeated flip-flopping between Chu and Han, their defeat at the hands of Han Xin, or their boiling alive of Li Yiji — those were all choices the Tian brothers made themselves. Their ruin held no injustice. Liu Bang had indeed pardoned Tian Heng and offered him a marquisate, but old Tian Heng, by his very nature, resolutely took his own life.

Times change, the world moves on. A two-hundred-year-old almanac entry can be dramatized within the clan to stir up tragic-heroic solidarity, but if you yourself take it as truth and use it as a talking point for the outside world, that is simply laughable.

If one must weigh it, Diwu Lun bore the Han no great enmity — nor any small favor. To him, the House of Han was nothing more than a stranger on the road!

Thus, toward this woman who was at once the Empress Dowager of the Former Former Dynasty and the Princess of the Former Dynasty, Diwu Lun would treat her well if he could. Looking across the realm, three Han courts now stood side by side. The world had no shortage of clever men, all convinced that "restoring the Han is what the people's hearts yearn for." You ride the current, I ride the current — everyone wants to take the path that looks easiest. In the future, we might see Five Han Dynasties Ravaging the Land, or even Seven Han Warring States.

Yet while emperors can be set up at will — any Liu surname will do, as long as he can move — there is only one Empress Xiaoping!

These past few days, Diwu Lun had been wandering the Tianlu Pavilion, casually leafing through documents of previous reigns. One record, detailing how old Huo Guang deposed the King of Changyi, had left a deep impression:

"Of the five great offenses, none is greater than filial impiety. King Xiang of Zhou could not serve his mother; the Spring and Autumn Annals states, 'The Son of Heaven went out and dwelt in Zheng.' Because of his impiety he was cast out, severed utterly from all under Heaven."

The legal basis for deposing an emperor came down to a single line: "The Empress Dowager decrees his deposition — how then can he be the Son of Heaven?"

The status of a Han Empress Dowager was so exalted that she could even refer to herself as "Zhen" — the imperial "We"!

Therefore, though for the moment she could bring Diwu Lun no political advantage whatsoever, she was a "Noble Phantasm effective against Han Emperors."

When the time was ripe in days to come, and Diwu Lun had to deal with the various Han emperors, one edict from Empress Dowager Wang Yan would suffice: You do not conform to the orthodox line! You proclaim that the Han must revive; I shall continue to stress that the Han's fortune has fallen into decline, that the Mandate has already shifted to the Diwu. Such battles of public opinion may be of no great practical use, but they can disgust your enemies, make them rage and sputter yet find themselves helpless against you — is that not enough?

What Diwu Lun himself failed to realize, however, was that after shattering Tian Kuang and with his plans moving steadily into place, his taut nerves had relaxed. Step by step ascending to high station, the arrogance — that contempt for lords and disregard for the powerful which he had for years concealed beneath a veneer of filial propriety — was beginning, gradually, to surface.

Apart from the books and the Empress Dowager, there was one other thing in the city of Chang'an that Diwu Lun absolutely had to take with him: the vast numbers of artisans registered under the government.

Ren Guang was in charge of coordinating this matter. He came to report to Diwu Lun: "The Weaving and Dyeing Bureau under the Office of Public Works has over two thousand weavers, weaving women, dyers, and leather workers."

"The Smelting Bureau oversees casting and smelting, gold, silver, copper, and iron work, as well as the coating and ornamentation of glass and jade — over a thousand artisans."

"The Various Smelting Directorates are responsible for forging weapons and farming tools — over two thousand artisans."

From the Qin and Han onward, the government controlled an entire handicraft industry system. Beyond the major sectors of salt, iron, and wine, the many trades — woodworking, metalworking, leatherworking, dyeing, jade working, pottery, and more — were all under the unified jurisdiction of the Privy Treasurer. This time, Diwu Lun was simply packing them all up and taking them with him!

Ren Guang continued: "There are also the three Imperial Supply Bureaus — Central, Left, and Right — responsible for supplying the ceremonial jade tablets for suburban sacrifices, the playthings and vessels of the Son of Heaven, the patterned and polychrome regulations for the Empress and consorts' attire, painted and carved ornamentation, palace candles and miscellaneous works, and the reins of spare horses. Though of no great use to the people's livelihood or the economy, when in the future Your Excellency wishes to lay the rudiments of institutions, such things can serve as adornment — they are indispensable."

He had vision. This was exactly what Diwu Lun liked about Ren Guang — his mind had already reached the distant work of building institutions.

"In addition, there are the Three Offices of Shanglin: the Bell Officer Commandant oversees coin casting; the Technique Officer Commandant oversees the engraving of coin molds; the Copper-Distinguishing Officer Commandant oversees the identification of raw materials for coin casting. Their clerks and artisans are also on the list for relocation."

The Three Offices of Shanglin had been established by Emperor Wu of Han and had shone brilliantly during Wang Mang's era, answering the old Wang's call — nominally a return to antiquity, in truth an innovation — by casting many bizarre and oddly shaped coins, their craftsmanship growing ever more exquisite. Though copper coins were now practically worthless, and rebuilding a currency system was easier said than done, Diwu Lun still wanted to bring them along.

Furthermore, Wang Mang had paid lip service to abolishing slavery, yet government slaves only grew more numerous. Those punished for the buying and selling of slaves or for casting private coinage were beyond counting — at their peak, over a hundred thousand. A great many had been dispatched with the army and sent off to Kunyang; thirty thousand remained, also under the management of the Three Offices of Shanglin.

Diwu Lun proclaimed an amnesty and the release of these thirty thousand government slaves. But whether they scattered on their own to become refugees, or accompanied him north of the Wei River where they might later earn a livelihood — that choice he left to each individual.

Just as he was leaving the city, Diwu Lun spotted a squad of soldiers laboring mightily beneath the Xuanwu Gate, shoving and hauling an enormous cart. Even with four oxen pulling, it was a heavy struggle.

Loaded upon it was a colossal square bronze cauldron, of an unknown weight — three men together could not wrap their arms around it. Diwu Lun had frequented no few mansions where bells chimed and cauldrons dined, yet he had never seen a piece this huge.

The cauldron had three hollow legs — "hollow legs" meaning the feet were open — and six wings, that is, six handles. Its exterior was covered in taotie motifs and cloud-and-thunder patterns, polished to a gleaming shine; it had clearly been well maintained.

Diwu Lun reined in his horse beside it. "This is…"

Shi Chen, who had expressed his willingness to abandon his old residence in Duling and follow Diwu Lun in the northward migration, was most eager. He came to report: "Grand General, this is the precious cauldron discovered in Hedong during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Former Han."

The Great Yu's Nine Cauldrons, passed down from Xia, Shang, and Zhou all the way to Qin, had been lost. How they were lost was a matter of endless debate; Diwu Lun was inclined to believe one version: when Xiang Yu, after sacking Xianyang, was transporting them back to Pengcheng, the boat sank in the Si River, and the Nine Cauldrons were lost. Liu Bang had tried to dredge them up but failed.

Yet, bizarrely, in the time of Emperor Wu of Han, a cauldron was fished out of the Fen River in Hedong — a thousand li from the Si River! It was this very one before his eyes, its form and design vastly different from all other cauldrons, its engravings bearing no inscriptions or maker's marks.

Shi Chen said: "Anciently, the Great Thearch raised the Divine Cauldron, a single one — 'one' signifying unity, that to which all things under Heaven and Earth are bound. The Yellow Emperor made three precious cauldrons, symbolizing Heaven, Earth, and Man. Yu gathered metal from the Nine Provinces and cast the Nine Cauldrons."

"But this Hedong Cauldron — this is the Cauldron of the Grand Unity!"

Good heavens — this was even more ancient and precious than Great Yu's Nine Cauldrons! Cast by the Grand Unity god himself at the very dawn of Heaven and Earth when all was chaos — it must have a history of several billion years!

And so it was that this great cauldron had been welcomed as a supreme treasure into the Sweet Springs Palace, received the sacrifices of Emperor Wu of Han, and then been sent into Weiyang Palace, mounted as one of the sacred artifacts of the House of Han.

Back then, transporting it from Hedong had taken a thousand men to pull and a hundred to shift. Today was no different.

Diwu Lun merely laughed it off. Pointing at the square cauldron, he asked, "Who ordered this pulled out?"

Shi Chen said ingratiatingly, "It was I…"

Diwu Lun's face hardened. "Unload this object. Leave it right here at Xuanwu Gate!"

What? Shi Chen thought he must have misheard. This was a precious artifact proving Heaven's Mandate! He had specially hauled it out for the Grand General — how could it be abandoned without a second thought?

Diba Jiao, however, supported Diwu Lun's decision. He stepped forward and said: "When the lords of Xia practiced virtuous governance, the Nine Provinces contributed fine metal, and cauldrons were cast to represent all things, so that the people might be prepared against every creature. Thus were high and low in harmony, blessed by Heaven above. Jie of Xia was benighted and debauched, and the cauldrons passed to Shang — six hundred years in all. Zhou of Shang was brutal and tyrannical, and the cauldrons passed again to Zhou. When Zhou declined, they passed to Qin — yet Qin, having won the realm, perished in little over ten years. The Han possessed no Nine Cauldrons, yet transmitted the state for two centuries; Wang Mang was enamored of antiquities, and he too perished in little over ten years."

"From this we may know: if the ruler governs the people with beauty and brilliance, then though the cauldron be small, or even absent, it is heavy. If he is treacherous, depraved, and benighted, then though the cauldron be great, it is light."

"Thus, winning all under Heaven lies in virtue — not in cauldrons!"

"Old Eight put it well," Diwu Lun nodded. "Still, if this really were the Nine Cauldrons of Great Yu, they'd be national treasures — I'd have to haul them away no matter what."

But since it's something the Han dynasty "manufactured" itself, it's just like Wang Mang's "Twelve Divine Artifacts" dumped outside the city's south gate — a counterfeit, a forgery.

Diwu Lun's mind was made up. He ordered the men to leave this Grand Unity Cauldron at the Xuanwu Gate. Let those who prize it as a rare treasure come and ask how heavy it is!

He thought to himself, "Better to load a few more craftsmen and haul a few more cartloads of books than drag this broken cauldron along."

If time hadn't been so short, Diwu Lun would even have had it melted down — save the waste!

Pointing at the huge, stupid thing blocking the Xuanwu Gate, Diwu Lun warned his trusted followers: "We're out to do great things. Don't be afraid of smashing a few pots and pans."

Pots and pans? When you think about it, cauldrons were originally used to boil plain meat — weren't they just pots and pans? The Grand General's words were plain and true; nothing wrong with them.

What matters is knowledge, people, and grain.

Knowledge is carried in books and charts — masters teach it, disciples recite it, and it passes down through the generations. Craftsmanship resides in the hands of artisans; give them materials and they can reproduce tools. Organize the artisans together, and an entire handicraft system can be relocated.

Add enough soldiers and sufficient food, and the upper, middle, and lower tiers of the structure are all in place.

"With these three, wherever we go, we can forge the 'Nine Cauldrons' anew!"

……

PS: I have to go out this afternoon, so the second chapter is moved to 23:00.

Special circumstances — I'll add an extra chapter on March 1st, not counting toward the alliance leader bonus chapters.