Chapter 37: Do You Believe?

"Boyu is that Diwu gentleman who 'bent a strong bow through sheer righteousness,' isn't he?"

"Oh? Brother Boshan actually recognizes me!"

Diwu Lun had thought his reputation could not travel beyond Liewei Commandery — he never imagined it would reach Chang'an in barely half a month.

The capital was a gathering place of talent, where heroes from commanderies and kingdoms converged; every day brought countless new exploits, and what was just in vogue would be forgotten in a flash. Making a name here was ten times, a hundred times harder than in Changling, so ever since entering the capital Diwu Lun had kept a rather low profile, not even bothering to cultivate his renown.

Diwu Lun was modest with his words: "That is me, but those were just my fellow villagers exaggerating — not to be taken seriously."

"Boyu is far too self-deprecating."

Geng Chun adjusted his cap, which always looked about to fall off: "Last time I had leave, I went to pay my respects to my clansmen, the Geng clan of Maoling, and I heard people speak of you there. There aren't many who earn the praise of the knight-errant Yuan She. Besides, Boyu, your surname is so rare — once you've heard it, it's hard to forget even if you try."

Yes, it was indeed hard to forget — unless you lumped it together with First, Second, Third, all the way to Eighth, and then you'd be too muddled to tell them apart.

Also, Yuan She had praised him? Diwu Lun truly hadn't known; it seemed he ought to find time to visit Maoling and see Sir Yuan, and while there, get Wan Xiu's broken bow repaired and return it.

Just then, Diwu Lun realized something awkward.

Geng Chun knew of him, but he himself knew nothing of Geng Chun. Judging by his manner, the man seemed straightforward, so the insincere "I've long admired your great name" would be genuinely hard to get out.

"Brother Boshan studied at the Imperial Academy some years ago, didn't he?"

Jing Dan, standing nearby, came to Diwu Lun's rescue, smoothing things over. He stepped forward, gave his own name, and said with a smile: "You and I should have entered the Academy the same year, only under different masters, but the name of Geng Boshan of Julu — I have heard it before."

Jing Dan then explained to Diwu Lun: "Brother Boshan's father is the Grand Governor of Jiping Commandery."

So he was the son of a two-thousand-bushel official — no wonder Geng Chun, barely past twenty, had already gone through the Imperial Academy, the Filial and Incorrupt nomination, and the Palace Gentleman appointment all in a row. The Xin Dynasty had a rule: the sons of officials ranked "Senior Serviceman" at six hundred bushels and above could directly audit courses at the Imperial Academy. No wonder Jing Dan was so fixated on reaching six hundred bushels — it was all so his descendants could win at the starting line.

And when it came to recommending Filial and Incorrupt candidates, the two-thousand-bushel officials often engaged in back-scratching deals: staggering the years and recommending each other's sons and nephews. Thus, among the Filial and Incorrupt slots, those who were truly "poor, untainted, and of pure character" were exceedingly rare; people like Diwu Lun and Jing Dan were already considered oddities.

After Geng Chun went with the two of them to a secluded spot by the Gentlemen's offices, he explained why he had been unable to hold back his laughter earlier.

"That was ten years ago. A hen in my home laid a double-yolked egg. The cook cracked it open and showed it around to everyone."

"At the time, there was a fangshi from Yan named Ximen Junhui staying as a guest in my house in Songzi City. He was fond of astronomy and prophetic texts, and he declared this was an auspicious omen connected to the founding of the Xin, and that it ought to be presented in Chang'an."

"I was young then and utterly baffled — could it be that this hen had been stirred by the Son of Heaven's influence from thousands of li away?"

This made Diwu Lun laugh again. For all that he was the son of a Grand Governor, Geng Chun was remarkably irreverent toward the Xin Emperor — another latent rebel.

Geng Chun's words were droll: "So I secretly took the egg to the kitchen, put it in water and boiled it, sprinkled on some salt, and ate it in two bites. It tasted no different from an ordinary egg, and nothing strange whatsoever happened afterward."

"But that Ximen Junhui cried out what a pity it was, and even said that with this we could have been enfeoffed as marquises. Tell me, isn't that laughable?"

It was indeed utterly laughable. When the Xin Dynasty was first established, sycophants, seeing Wang Mang's fondness for prophetic texts, frantically reported auspicious omens to the court — here a piglet was born with three legs, there the wheat and grain grew double ears. Those who submitted them quickly were actually enfeoffed as marquises, which thoroughly devalued the five-rank nobility system.

In the end, even people on the streets of Chang'an joked with one another: "Are you the only one who hasn't received a decree from the Heavenly Emperor?"

And among the "Eleven Senior Dukes," there were those who exploited prophetic texts for personal gain, scheming to set up a "joint rule of Zhou and Shao" and sideline Wang Mang. Some even used "heavenly writs" to demand Wang Mang's daughter in marriage — the very Princess of the Huanghuang House who lived across from Xuanming Ward.

The Master of Fates of the Five Majesties, Chen Chong, submitted that prophetic texts and mandate omens had become a double-edged sword — if this went on, where would it end? Wang Mang immediately took measures, declaring that anyone who dared fabricate them on their own would be arrested and imprisoned. The mandate omens the court required could only be issued by the "Generals of the Five Majesties" organization under his direct command, and only then was this path of chaos cut off.

"And so that Ximen Junhui never managed to get himself enfeoffed as a marquis. Now he's a retainer of Wang She, Marquis of Zhidao, and still goes on about prophetic texts."

The wave had passed; anyone still clutching prophetic omens and dreaming of an easy noble title now was a genuine fool.

After Geng Chun left, Jing Dan looked at Diwu Lun and said: "That being the case, Boyu, could it be that you, like Huan Junshan, do not believe in prophetic texts and auspicious anomalies?"

Huan Junshan — that was none other than Huan Tan, who had made barbed remarks at Diwu Lun at Yang Xiong's house days ago and had not come to apologize afterward.

Over the past decade, courtiers, to curry favor with Wang Mang, had made a trend of promoting portents and prophetic diagrams — even Yang Xiong had not been immune. Only Huan Tan remained silent. He had even openly denounced the discourse of auspicious anomalies; he was a famously eccentric scholar who held to the "candle-flame theory of body and spirit," striking a pose of being the sole sober man while all the world was drunk.

On this point, Diwu Lun admired Huan Tan, but the man's character was so disagreeable that even with Yang Xiong's introduction, he could not be bothered to seek his acquaintance.

Hearing Jing Dan's question, Diwu Lun shook his head and smiled: "I do not believe in prophetic texts."

"But auspicious anomalies — those I do believe in!"

Nonsense — though all the auspicious signs Wang Mang had cooked up were fake.

But he himself, the transmigrator — was he not the truest auspicious anomaly between heaven and earth?!

…

Meanwhile, at the Imperial Academy student dormitories south of the city, Qiang Hua was being roundly mocked and ridiculed by his fellow senior student Zhuang Guang.

This crude and discourteous man from Kuaiji had actually declared that "prophetic texts and auspicious anomalies are all falsehoods."

Zhuang Ziling further mocked Qiang Hua: "Any mandate omen not promulgated by the Generals of the Five Majesties lands you in prison. If you go present your Heavenly Emperor's writ now, you won't get a marquisate — you'll only get a jail cell."

The slow-tongued Qiang Hua was refuted to the point of speechlessness. Fortunately, Liu Xiu was there to mediate between them, pulling Qiang Hua away from the dormitory and steering clear of Zhuang Ziling.

With pent-up frustration and nowhere to vent it, Qiang Hua kicked viciously at the stones on the ground, then suddenly turned back and asked: "Wenshu believes in auspicious anomalies and prophetic texts, doesn't he?"

Liu Xiu nodded: "Auspicious anomalies — those I believe."

The calamities recorded in the Spring and Autumn Annals were all manifest in the reigns of Cheng and Ai, beyond dispute; the disasters and the fatuous depravity of the Han Son of Heaven were both real. Add to that the line being severed three times — its fall had its reasons.

But was the Xin, which had usurped the Han by means of mandate omens, truly as Wang Mang proclaimed — with countless auspicious signs and a realm in perfect peace?

"Quite the opposite!"

From what Liu Xiu knew, over these ten years, the world had seen even more disasters and anomalies.

To set aside the minor ones and speak of the major: in the third year of Shijianguo, the Great River breached its banks in Wei Commandery, flooding several commanderies east of Qinghe, yet the court, for reasons unknown, long refused to block it, causing the river disaster to worsen and rage across Yan Province and Qing Province — seven years now and still unchecked. The Yellow River, fixed in its course for thousands of years since Yu the Great tamed the waters, had completely shifted, flowing through Pingyuan and Jinan toward Qiansheng and into the sea.

After arriving in Chang'an, Liu Xiu heard from a fellow student, Diba Jiao of Liewei Commandery, that in the third year of Tianfeng, the Jing River became blocked at Changping Station in Liewei and then changed course. Yet the State General Ai Zhang interpreted the mandate omen, declaring it an auspicious sign of earth filling in water, foretelling that the Xin Dynasty would destroy the northern Xiongnu — and so the court ignored the flood and instead frantically dispatched troops to the north.

He had also heard that during the Tianfeng era, a yellow dragon fell dead within the Yellow Mountain Palace, and commoners who rushed to see it numbered in the tens of thousands. Though the court dismissed this as false, Liu Xiu believed it to be true.

The yellow dragon had manifested in the human realm several times when Wang Mang usurped the Han; now that it had fallen dead, did this not signify that the Xin's virtue of earth was about to wane?

These matters Liu Xiu kept buried in his heart, hardly daring to speak of them to anyone. One of his purposes in studying the Book of Documents was precisely to access the true essence of the "Great Plan," which expounded the cycle of the five phases, and to understand the great Dao of auspicious anomalies in this world.

Liu Xiu gazed into the distance: "As for prophetic texts — those I believe in even more!"

Just a few years after Wang Mang usurped the Han, a woman in Chang'an had stood in the middle of Gao Street and shouted for all to hear: "The Exalted Emperor is furious — swiftly return our realm to us! If not, in the ninth month, he will surely slay you!"

The court said the woman was a madwoman and exiled her to be done with it, but when Liu Xiu heard of it, he felt it might truly have been the Exalted Emperor possessing her.

Later, the story of "Liu Ziyu" spread far and wide — said to be the posthumous son of Emperor Cheng of Han, now grown to manhood, who had once stopped the carriage of a Xin Dynasty minister to announce his identity, declaring: "The House of Liu shall be restored — swiftly vacate the palace."

That man was arrested and his clan exterminated. The official denials said Emperor Cheng's sons had been murdered by Zhao Feiyan and that there had never been any Liu Ziyu. But rumors among the common folk said the real Liu Ziyu was still alive. Even Zhai Yi, the Han Dynasty's foremost loyal minister who had raised his banner in revolt against Wang Mang over a decade ago, was said to still be alive, lying low somewhere unknown, awaiting the shifting of the times…

It was exactly the same pattern as Fusu, the Qin crown prince, and Xiang Yan at the end of the Qin!

As a scion of the House of Han, Liu Xiu would rather believe these prophetic texts were real. Wang Mang had used prophetic texts to usurp the Han — could they not be turned back against him?

And what he trusted most were still the words his elder brother Liu Bosheng had excitedly told him after hearing them in Wancheng — that slogan gradually gaining voice among the common people.

"The House of Han shall rise again!"

……

By the afternoon hour of bu, the Palace Gentlemen had finished their study of the laws and ordinances taught by the senior officials and could finally go home.

Geng Chun had by now gotten acquainted with Diwu Lun and the other, and even invited them to visit Zhangtai Street together the next day. Both declined, saying they had matters at home — though in truth, Diwu Lun rather wanted to go.

Just as they were speaking, a Palace Gentleman who knew Geng Chun hurried over in a few quick strides. Not bothering to avoid the others, he spoke rapidly, switching directly to the Julu dialect that was hard for Guanzhong men to understand, and said a few words to Geng Chun.

Geng Chun's expression changed. He merely clasped his hands to Diwu Lun and said, "I live in Xiucheng Quarter on Guanqian Street. When you and Sunqing have leisure, you must come find me and taste the strong liquor of Yan and Zhao."

With that, he left in haste. Jing Dan said, "Could Geng Boshan be so impatient that he means to go to Zhangtai Street tonight?"

Diwu Lun shook his head. "No… something major has truly happened."

He felt immensely fortunate that he had some talent for languages, and that when he had studied the realm's dialects with old Yang Xiong, that expert in regional speech, he had learned them from north to south — so he could just grasp the gist of the awkward Julu dialect.

Diwu Lun lowered his voice. "They were saying that the Son of Heaven has just issued a secret edict, ordering the Master of Fates of the Five Majesties to ride post-haste across the realm, examine corruption, and strictly investigate commandery governors and county magistrates who have grown rich through illicit profiteering!"

The Master of Fates of the Five Majesties was the Xin Dynasty's oversight body, answering directly to Wang Mang. It supervised everyone below the Upper Dukes — all those who disobeyed orders, great swindlers, counterfeiters of coin, the arrogant and extravagant who exceeded sumptuary laws, those who leaked matters from the palace or the Secretariat, those who gave private thanks for favors, and the like were all under its scrutiny.

To sum the matter up in a single phrase: Wang Mang was launching an anti-corruption campaign!

Jing Dan was startled. "Is this true or false? Why have we received no word of it?"

The Emperor Wang Mang always acted on whims, and Diwu Lun and Jing Dan had no solid backing or patrons in the capital. The decrees issued by the public offices had no need to notify a bunch of idle supernumerary gentlemen in advance.

As for how Geng Chun and the others knew — they were sons of officials drawing two thousand dan, with a host of in-laws and old acquaintances in the capital, so their information was well-connected. Could they compare? And as for Wang Long, the hall-cousin of the Marquis of Qiongcheng… that fool cared only about rhapsodies and knew nothing at all.

Geng Chun's father was the Grand Governor of Jiping, and in this wave of anti-corruption, he might well be implicated — hence his anxiety. Nor was it only Geng Chun; many sons of two-thousand-dan officials in the Gentlemen's Quarters had gotten the news, and their leisure-day mood instantly vanished. They all left at a swift pace.

From top to bottom, the officials of the Xin Dynasty were none of them clean. With Wang Mang suddenly pulling this move, the whole realm would likely be thrown into chaos.

After his initial shock, Jing Dan laughed. "Come to think of it, this matter has little to do with us. I was merely a commandery literary aide before, and I've always been honest. Even if the Master of Fates investigates me, there's nothing to fear."

Diwu Lun hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back. Finally he asked, "Sunqing, your father Zixiao…"

"Boyu!"

Jing Dan understood Diwu Lun's meaning and said sternly, "Lord Zhang is stern and proper, devoted to ritual, and has never sullied himself with muddy currents. He is absolutely not a corrupt man. As his former students and subordinates, we must not doubt him."

Diwu Lun nodded. What worried him was that if their patron Zhang Zhan fell from grace, then as men he had recommended, Diwu Lun, Jing Dan, and even Wang Long and Xiao Yan would all be implicated.

He hoped it was truly as Jing Dan said — that Zhang Zhan was consistent within and without, his sleeves filled only with wind. Then Diwu Lun would indeed have nothing to worry about…

As if!

"Brother Sunqing, we can't wait until tomorrow. We leave tonight!"

With that, Diwu Lun rode swiftly back to Xuanming Quarter, summoned Diwu Fu, who had not yet eaten, and immediately had him drive the coal-laden cart out of Chang'an.

The reason for such urgency was that Diwu Lun had suddenly recalled: back in the autumn, Diwu Ba had bribed County Magistrate Xianyu Bao for his Imperial Academy place.

Though the matter had fallen through, Magistrate Xianyu had never returned those favors. If it came to light, the Diwu clan might face minor trouble.

No one knew when this anti-corruption edict had been issued. The Master of Fates might have already reached Liewei Commandery and begun a thorough investigation. He had to use the rest day to hurry home, see the situation, and prepare a response — whether for good or ill.

But he was still a step too late.

At nightfall, before Diwu Lun had even reached the Diwu hamlet compound, he encountered Diwu Ge, who was rushing toward Chang'an to find him.

Catching sight of the young master's cart and hearing his son Diwu Fu calling him repeatedly, Diwu Ge hastily reined in his horse, scrambled down, and clutched the rail of Diwu Lun's cart, saying in terror, "Young head of the family, something terrible has happened."

"Just this afternoon, County Magistrate Xianyu was arrested by officials sent from the court!"

"And just now, a postal inspector arrived and took the old family head to the county seat!"

……

PS: For Wang Mang's anti-corruption campaign, see the "Biography of Wang Mang" in the Book of Han, fifth year of Tianfeng.