Chapter 376: Comparing Misery

In the last third of the fourth month of the second year of Gengshi, in Wancheng in Nanyang, Liu Xuan could no longer spare the time to play games on the table with his famously strong consort. When word came that the Red Eyebrow Army had struck Runan, that the local Greenwood Army had suffered a crushing defeat, and that the entire commandery had fallen, he was seized with terror.

"The Red Eyebrows agreed to go to Yingchuan to reorganize, then enter the pass and strike Diwu Lun. How could they suddenly revolt!"

"That lot are unruly and hard to tame — We were prepared for that. But Runan is a major commandery. The King of Yan and the King of Sui were stationed there, with forty thousand troops recruited. The King of Wuyin, under Our edict, was in Runan guarding against Li Xian of Huainan, with another twenty thousand men under his command. That makes sixty thousand in all. How could they suddenly be routed?"

The King of Wuyin, Li Yi, was in a wretched state. He had been stationed in Xincai County in southern Runan. The Red Eyebrow assault had come far too suddenly; by the time word reached him, the King of Yan and the King of Sui had already been crushed and both had died in battle, and the Red Eyebrows' hundred-thousand-strong army was still sweeping around to encircle him.

Li Yi was instantly stupefied. He could only rush to meet the attack. At the battle of Xincai, the Greenwood men, who had always prided themselves on being rough-and-ready fighters, were terrified by the Red Eyebrows' utterly reckless style of combat. The field dissolved into a chaotic brawl with no order at all. In the end, the Red Eyebrows held the advantage in numbers and momentum. Li Yi abandoned the main force and fled back almost alone.

Now, with matters come to this pass, he could only heap all the blame onto the dead.

"Your Majesty," Li Yi said in a tone of deep anguish, "the fault lies entirely with the King of Yan and the King of Sui, who plundered Runan with outrageous taxes and levies. Soldiers in name, they were bandits in fact. With famine upon the land, the two kings sent troops into the countryside to seize grain, scraping the very soil bare. Not only did the common people suffer bitterly — even the local powerful families seethed with resentment."

But at root, the problem was Liu Xuan's own doing. The year before, a man in Runan had declared himself emperor — a kinsman of the Chongling Liu clan, from the line of the Marquis of Zhongwu, a cadet branch of the King of Changsha. After Liu Xuan sent troops to destroy this man, he nursed a deep hatred for usurpers and launched a sweeping purge of the powerful families in Runan who had backed Liu Sheng. He dispatched two vicious Greenwood chieftains to take charge. Those two had no notion whatever of how to govern a commandery. In a bare half-year, they had reduced prosperous Runan to destitution and ruin.

Since the Gengshi regime had lost the people's hearts, when the Red Eyebrows struck, the region's vast numbers of refugees rose up to join them from within, and the Red Eyebrows swelled considerably in strength. The powerful families, panicking, would in fact have preferred the Greenwood forces to stay, but the Greenwood Army collapsed like a landslide, and the help those families could offer was a mere drop in the bucket. In less than a month, the whole of Runan had fallen.

The Greenwood Army that had once been able to chase down and thrash Wang Mang's new army — in barely a year's time, when faced with the even more disorganized and unruly Red Eyebrows, had suddenly become utterly brittle.

Liu Xuan murmured, "No wonder, when We left the palace some days ago, the horses suddenly bolted in fright and crashed into the iron-pillared gate of the Northern Palace. Of the three horses, two were killed in the collision. So it was an omen, and now it has been fulfilled."

Had all three horses been killed, even Li Yi might not have made it back.

Liu Xuan had spent this stretch of days with his eyes blinded by wine and women. Only now did he wake as if from a dream and realize he was far from safe. Having no real ability, he could only fret helplessly. He looked at the assembled princes, lords, and ministers and said, "My lords, with matters at this pass — what is to be done?"

The men he had lately appointed — the "Palace Attendants from the Kitchen Hearth," the "Cavalry Commandants of Rotten Mutton Tripe," the "Marquises Within the Pass of Rotten Sheep's Heads" — were all experts at currying favor with Liu Xuan and sharing his pleasures, but what did they know of matters of national survival? They hemmed and hawed for a long while before someone finally stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the reason the Red Eyebrows have rebelled may be that they are dissatisfied with their enfeoffments and rewards. Since they were previously granted marquisates, perhaps we can send envoys again, this time promising them kingships. That should be enough to placate them."

Everyone had been terrified by the Red Eyebrows' fighting strength. Liu Xuan, in his panic, was about to agree, when a man in the hall barked out, "Your Majesty, I beg you to execute these men!"

"If the Red Eyebrows see that the Greenwood is weak, their ambitions will only grow. They will march straight on Wancheng!"

The speaker was Zhu Wei, who after Liu Bosheng's death had taken his place as Grand Chancellor.

Zhu Wei was, it must be said, a rather singular figure. When Liu Xuan had wanted to enfeoff the Greenwood commanders as kings, all the others had gladly accepted. Zhu Wei alone declared that he would abide by the Emperor Gao's Oath of the White Horse and refused to accept the title of King of Jiaodong.

Liu Xuan was deeply moved and thereafter placed great trust in Zhu Wei. The other commanders were dispatched to their kingdoms beyond the capital to serve as territorial magnates; Zhu Wei alone remained in Nanyang, holding military power over the capital region.

Earlier, when Liu Xuan had wished to send Liu Xiu to the east, Zhu Wei had also been strongly opposed. Now, sure enough, Liu Xiu had grown into a force to be reckoned with and slipped free of their control. This filled Liu Xuan with regret, and at the same time made him weigh Zhu Wei's counsel all the more heavily. He said urgently, "What does the Grand Chancellor advise?"

Zhu Wei said, "Runan borders on Nanyang. A large army can reach Wancheng in ten days. The Red Eyebrows are a mortal threat. The most urgent task is to summon the various kings southward to exterminate them!"

"Your Majesty should issue edicts ordering the King of Huaiyang to come from Chenliu, the King of Biyang from Luoyang, the King of Rang from Yingchuan, and the King of Ruyin from Huaiyang, to rendezvous with the main army. Five columns, a hundred thousand men combined, will advance and wipe out the Red Eyebrows in Runan!"

"I second this!" The King of Xiping, Li Tong, stepped forward and said, "Runan looks north to Yingchuan and Luoyang, south to the Huai and the Mian. It leans on the might of Jing and Chu, and its roads lead to Chen and Wan. Its mountains and rivers form natural barriers, its fields stretch broad and level. It has the resources to sustain both offensive and defensive operations, and ample ground for farming and garrisoning. Lying between Jing and Yu provinces, it is a strategic linchpin. With the Red Eyebrows there, the court can find no restful sleep. We must concentrate all our strength to clear them out."

"At present, Hebei is embroiled in chaos. Neither Liu Ziyu nor Ma Yuan can spare a thought for the south. It will suffice to leave a small force in each commandery to hold the line. But the two lords at Wu Pass cannot be withdrawn."

That meant, of course, that the desperate pleas of Liu Jia, the King of Hanzhong, under assault from the Shu army, would likewise go unanswered.

Yet although Li Tong supported recalling the various kings, he believed that peace talks must not be neglected either.

"Once the kings receive word and turn their armies around, it will take two months at the soonest, perhaps as long as a season. We must send envoys to placate the Red Eyebrows and keep them in Runan, feeding off the land there."

From what Li Tong understood of the Red Eyebrow Army, this swarm of peasants was like locusts. When they struck a place, they would halt for several months, devour every grain of food, then wipe their mouths and move on to the next. He could only hope they would do the same this time.

Liu Xuan approved the assembled ministers' proposal. But after court was dismissed, Li Tong deliberately lingered behind and requested a private audience with Liu Xuan.

Liu Xuan glanced at the attendants serving him and dismissed them. Once they had left, Li Tong prostrated himself and said, "Your Majesty, the Red Eyebrows claim to number three hundred thousand. If they drive straight west and attack Wancheng before the kings can return with their relief forces, the consequences do not bear thinking of. I have two further proposals. If they can be adopted, then we shall have a plan that leaves nothing to chance."

"Speak quickly, my lord!"

Li Tong said, "First: the Red Eyebrows have always plundered the houses of the powerful. I am willing, on Your Majesty's behalf, to summon the great clans of Nanyang and reason with them. I will tell them that if the Red Eyebrows break into Wan territory, not a single one of their clans will survive. Only thus can we unite their wills and forge a common defense against the rebel bandits."

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"An excellent plan."

Li Tong went on: "Second: the loss of Runan is connected to the incompetence of its generals."

The King of Wuyin, who had lost the battle, was his own cousin, so Li Tong did not scruple to speak bluntly. This younger cousin of his was adept enough at power struggles and intrigue, but when it came to warfare, he was a complete amateur. His greatest victory, after all, had been as one of the thirteen riders who sallied out of Kunyang — basking in a certain someone's reflected glory.

That had, in turn, made Li Yi bitterly jealous of Liu Xiu. But was jealousy any use in such matters?

Li Tong said, "The former King of Wuyang, Commandant of Justice Wang Chang, is a veteran general of the Greenwood. He was stripped of his title for privately aiding Liu Bosheng and is now confined in Wancheng, reflecting on his errors. General of Inspiring Might Ma Wu has also repeatedly distinguished himself in battle; he is currently drilling troops and farming in Huyang County. And there is the new head of the Deng clan, Deng Feng — a young prodigy who once inflicted a major defeat on Dou Rong, a man reputed to be the equal of the King of Wei, Diwu Lun..."

"The situation is now desperate. I beg Your Majesty to appoint and employ these men!"

After a brief hesitation, Liu Xuan agreed. The first two had been inclined toward the Liu Bosheng brothers, but Liu Bosheng was now dead.

As for Deng Feng, he was a young commander Liu Xuan rather admired. Had Deng not decisively forced the Deng clan troops to withdraw southward, Liu Bosheng might not have been trapped and killed by Diwu Lun...

After Li Tong took his leave and withdrew, he summoned his most trusted household retainer.

"Take a small party. Find a way through Jiangxia, cross into Yuzhang, and make a detour to Jiangdong."

"Go in my stead to seek an audience with the King of Wu, and deliver a letter."

"Tell him that Wang Chang, Ma Wu, and the other generals will regain military command, and that the Greenwood chieftains are about to fight a decisive battle with the Red Eyebrows. When the two sides have exhausted and wounded each other — that will be the moment for the King of Wu to return and seize supreme power!"

Li Tong no longer held any real expectations for Liu Xuan. In public terms, the interests of the great Nanyang clans required a capable general — or a new emperor — to protect them. Looking over all the men of Chongling, only Liu Xiu had that ability.

In private terms, Liu Xiu was his wife's elder brother...

Li Tong raised his head and gazed at the lowering sky over Wancheng, his heart heavy with worry. The distance was too great. Even if Liu Xiu led his army back at once, it would be months before he arrived. "Can the Red Eyebrows be delayed? Is there still time — will it be enough?"

Inside the palace halls of Wancheng, the Gengshi Emperor, feasting daily on fish and meat, could see no famine.

Yet this calamity was indeed rampaging across the land of Nanyang. If one asked where the ravages of war had been most severe, Nanyang was in no way less afflicted than the east. In Wang Mang's final years, the new army and the Greenwood forces had tangled here; the siege of Wancheng had dragged on for more than half a year. The great majority of able-bodied men had been conscripted as soldiers by both sides and thrown into the brutal fighting. Countless had died or been wounded; countless more had been driven from their homes. Agricultural production, naturally, had been utterly abandoned.

Inside the Wancheng palace, the kitchens had fat meat and the stables had fat horses. But beyond the capital, the people wore the look of starvation, and the wilds were strewn with the corpses of the famished.

This was the scene that Wang Mang beheld as, under the protection of Ju Wuba and Cui Fa, he entered what he called "the Forward Commandery."

Ju Wuba had procured a mule for Wang Mang to ride. The former emperor, dressed no differently from any white-haired old village man, saw along the road how desolate the "Forward" region had become. Sorrow and pity welled up in him; he could hardly bear to look.

"Your Majesty... Old Tian, in years past, the Forward Commandery was a rich and prosperous land between Jing and Yu. Wancheng ranked among the five capitals. Yet now it has come to this!"

Cui Fa sighed with the same emotion. As one of Wang Mang's original followers, who had been with him since Xindu, he still held some feeling for this commandery.

To find out whether their destination was safe, Cui Fa questioned the refugees constantly along the way.

"Xindu? We're from Xindu!"

When he heard that these ragged, tattered wretches were people from his own fief, the taciturn Wang Mang abruptly raised his head and listened as Cui Fa talked with them.

This group of refugees from Xindu numbered a dozen or so. They had originally harbored ill intentions, but one look at the towering, massive Ju Wuba made them abandon any thought of robbing this party and slaughtering the mule for its meat. They simply answered obediently.

"You ask why we didn't stay in Xindu to farm? There's no land left!"

The young farmer, whose ear had been sliced off in the war, began telling Wang Mang and the others of his bitter plight.

"Back when the Greenwood troops attacked Wancheng, I heard that if you joined the army you could get rich and never worry about food or clothing. In a muddle, I grabbed a weapon and went off with the others to enlist. When General Bosheng burned down the Xindu palace, I was right there."

At this, Wang Mang's white brows furrowed, but he still said nothing.

"I fought at Little Chang'an too — that's where I lost an ear. But I missed Kunyang; I only went to besiege Wancheng."

"You ask if I ever got the good life I foolishly dreamed of when I enlisted? Bah! I was cheated! In the camps, common soldiers are treated worse than dogs and pigs! We weren't General Bosheng's own troops — no clothes, no rations. We had to loot everything ourselves."

They had seen the county-town gallant who sweet-talked them onto the battlefield, swearing he'd be enfeoffed, win renown, and restore the Han, just as he turned to rally their spirits — only to be shot down by a crossbow bolt. Then some Greenwood commander rode straight up with his troops and loudly announced that everyone now belonged to him.

Battle after battle — before their wounds were even half-healed, new injuries were piled on. They never ate their fill. Their shoes fell apart on the endless marches, their clothes rotted into rags, and many died of sickness — more than those who fell in combat.

And the Chongling Lius, the Nanyang magnates, the Greenwood commanders — all those who swore they fought for the people — after they'd eaten and drunk their fill, they'd cluster in majestic array around the Gengshi Emperor, strutting and shouting orders, demanding that the soldiers throw themselves like moths against the walls of Wancheng.

"Rewards? Pay? Those who scaled the walls got a mouthful of food — that's all. If you didn't climb, you starved. After Wancheng fell, the commanders and powerful families may have grabbed plenty of loot, but we didn't get so much as a bolt of cloth. The first ones in took it all."

After witnessing too many of his fellow villagers die in the ditches, he too had had enough of war.

"The commanders wanted to march north to the other commanderies and wouldn't let the soldiers go home. I figured following them would be the same as it was in Nanyang — no profit in it — so I slipped away in secret."

Yet when this farmer, who had been swept up in the war in a daze, finally returned home, he found his native land in ruins: rabbits darted in through the dog-door, pheasants flew from the rafters.

At this point, his voice grew sorrowful: "I hear the Gengshi Emperor took a hundred consorts. I had only one wife, and when I got home, she was gone. I don't know if she was carried off by marauding soldiers or fled the famine — whether she's alive or dead."

The grief came quickly and passed just as fast. A wife lost could be replaced — in these chaotic times, there was no shortage of orphaned girls. But what was truly outrageous was this: their land, those paltry dozen-odd mu, had already been cheerfully carved up by the local magnates, great and small!

"Bring a lawsuit? Demand justice? Where would we even go?" The refugees from Xindu were indignant. "The one who seized my land is the new County Magistrate himself! And the Assistant Magistrate is his in-law! The County Commandant is his nephew."

"Some people banded together to demand an explanation. They were met with a volley of crossbow bolts. The ringleaders were hanged from the fortress walls."

The Greenwood commanders, the Chongling imperial clan, the Nanyang magnates — these three formed the delicate triangular balance of the Gengshi regime.

After the war, most of the Greenwood commanders and the Chongling imperial clansmen were enfeoffed as kings in outlying commanderies, leaving the rich lands of Nanyang to be carved up among the great families. They had backed Gengshi in the war, and Liu Xuan had to repay them somehow. Nearly every family was enfeoffed as a marquis, giving them the dual status of high court officials and local power-brokers.

As a result, in Nanyang and Runan, where land conflicts were already acute, the fields of the rich stretched ever wider, while the poor truly had not even a pinpoint of ground left to stand on.

These farmers who had bled and sweated for the Gengshi regime could mostly only resign themselves to becoming tenant farmers. In all of vast Nanyang, there were practically no independent smallholders left!

To be made slaves — that was the sole reward they reaped from this war to restore the Han and destroy the Xin.

"If we could just stay alive, then tenant farmers we'd be, slaves we'd be. But lately, even being a tenant farmer has become impossible."

"Last autumn, the rent was collected at seventy percent — seventy percent! After paying, there was barely enough to fill our bellies and save a little seed."

"Who'd have thought that when summer came, they'd say we had to fight the Red Eyebrows and send someone to squeeze out another ten percent. We can't go on living!"

The man from Xindu stared wide-eyed, his tone exaggerated and seething with fury. Famine was sweeping the realm, and Nanyang could not escape it. To sustain his pleasures, Liu Xuan demanded grain from the magnates, and the magnates stalled and made excuses.

But now, with the Red Eyebrows invading in force and Runan already lost, the Nanyang magnates had suddenly grown anxious. Only then did they answer Gengshi's call and begin contributing grain and manpower. In truth, they simply shifted the burden onto the tenant farmers, who were crushed breathless under the weight — and now they heard there was to be a conscription drive to fight the Red Eyebrows.

But those who had been fooled once would never believe it again.

"Anyway, my wife's gone, my child is dead, I've nothing left to tie me down. I just threw down my hoe and led my village fellows out to become refugees!"

"That's right! Even switching to the Red Eyebrows would be better than breaking our backs for that Gengshi Emperor!"

"What 'the people's hearts long for Han'? This is Han? Life is worse than before!"

The people of Xindu rambled on, recounting their ordeals, until at last, a thoughtless, angry remark slipped out — and Wang Mang, who had sunk into utter despondency, his whole being as if dead, suddenly lifted his head. In an instant, Wang Mang seemed to come alive again, his eyes shining with a strange light.

"Right now, the one I miss is the Xin Emperor, who let the people of Xindu go tax-free!"