Chapter 530: Breaking Down

By the middle of the second year of Wude, Chang'an had long since recovered from the chaos of a few years before. Order in the Eastern and Western Markets had been restored. Though the State of Wei had yet to issue a new currency, trade volume and the variety of goods grew day by day. Large transactions were conducted with the scattered gold ingots that had flowed from Wei soldiers' hands into the market.

Most of the gold ingots, however, were taken back by the Wei Emperor through a special method. Because the soldiers were out on campaign, they needed to hire tenants and serfs to work their allotted fields, and building houses also required money. The government thus collected the money on their behalf and handled everything. The gold ingots made a full circle and fell back into Diwu Lun's hands.

As the damaged neighborhood gates were repaired one after another, the street scenes of Chang'an differed little from the Xin Dynasty's peak. The only difference was that the streets no longer had minor officials holding mud-water basins, who, to enforce Wang Mang's edict that "men and women walk separate paths," would splash any man and woman seen walking side by side. Diwu Lun even encouraged young men and women to spend more time together, and walking arm in arm was not considered excessive. Even during the national mourning period after Diwu Ba's death, marriages were not prohibited.

The war had consumed a large population, which urgently needed replenishment. The Wei Emperor thus kept pace with the times and proclaimed that any household bearing a third child would be rewarded by the state with a dozen eggs...

Such policies made Chang'an as bustling as ever, but on this day, the city seemed especially deserted. This was because everyone had heard that Wang Mang was returning and, supporting the old and carrying the young, had flocked to the east of the city to see the spectacle. From the youths of the left-side alleys in the Willow Market slums to the wealthy scions of Shangguan Ward, none could resist the custom.

As the day drew to a close, the residents of Shangguan Ward returned home in high spirits, only to see an old man leaning on a staff by the ward gate, smiling as he asked them: "Everyone, did you see Wang Mang?"

This man was named Zhang Song, a literary talent of the late Han and Xin Dynasty on par with Yang Xiong and Liu Xin, and a court writer in Wang Mang's service. His political instincts were extremely sharp. When Wang Mang was in power, the memorials he submitted were utterly sycophantic, earning him a marquisate. In the latter part of Wang Mang's reign, he changed his former style and gave away all his wealth. Because Zhang Song had done little evil and had no property or land at home, he avoided the great purge after Diwu Lun destroyed the Xin Dynasty and was not branded a "national traitor" and executed.

When Diwu Lun fought Liu Bosheng of the Greenwood at Chang'an, Zhang Song abandoned his family property and followed Diwu Lun as he shifted to Weibei. At the time, his neighbors all laughed at him. Afterward, when they were robbed several times by the Greenwood men and starved through a winter, they deeply regretted it and all considered Zhang Song a "wise old man."

Recently, word had spread that Wang Mang had been brought back by the Wei Emperor. Inside Shangguan Ward, the old fellows who, like Zhang Song, had lived through three dynasties, gathered to discuss matters. They planned to come forward as Elders and ward leaders to organize the common people to demonstrate their loyalty, enumerate Wang Mang's evils, and petition the Wei Emperor to execute this villain soon!

When they invited Zhang Song to join them, he declined, citing trouble with his legs.

Now, seeing Zhang Song leaning on the gate and asking, the lead "Elder" immediately grew smug and boasted to him eloquently: "We gathered west of Ba Bridge, numbering no less than tens of thousands. All bowed to the sacred Son of Heaven, petitioning for Wang Mang's swift death. Our voices drowned out the very current of the Ba River."

"His Majesty accepted the people's petition and said that in a few days, a public referendum will be held in Chang'an. Together with hundreds of thousands of Chang'an residents, he will judge Wang Mang on behalf of Heaven and decide his life or death. At that time, the Elders and ward leaders will preside."

"We then cleared the road, but the common people were not yet satisfied. They merely followed the imperial carriage back to the capital from a distance. During this, someone said they saw a white-haired old man riding in a carriage at the very end of the procession. Perhaps that was Wang Mang..."

A middle-aged wealthy householder added: "His Majesty is too merciful. Wang Mang should be tied with hemp rope behind a horse's tail, stripped of his clothes, and made to walk back to Chang'an naked, step by step, enduring the spit of ten thousand people!"

Zhang Song nodded: "Through which gate did His Majesty enter the city with Wang Mang?"

The crowd said: "We came from the Eastern Gate, but His Majesty made a detour south of the city, passing the Three Harmony Halls and the Imperial Academy, and entered through the An Gate, falling behind us. The imperial carriage should pass by the gate of Shangguan Ward..."

As soon as the words were spoken, the sound of gongs rang out repeatedly. It was the Palace Guard Commandant, Diqi Biao, sending men to clear the road before the imperial carriage's arrival.

The people of Shangguan Ward had no time to talk further and hurried outside. Even Zhang Song, leaning on his staff, went with them.

Outside, it was already a sea of people. Of Chang'an's one hundred sixty wards, nearly every lane was empty, everyone wanting to see the spectacle.

After rows of the Commandant's troops, imposing crimson riders clearing the way, passed by, the personal guard formed by the Palace Gentlemen came next, escorting the Emperor's carriage. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the Son of Heaven's traveling retinue had been divided into three grades. Today's should be the second grade, the "Ceremonial Escort," with a total of thirty-six auxiliary carriages, six by six, positioned before and after Diwu Lun's gilded carriage.

As far as Zhang Song knew, Diwu Lun did not much like pomp and usually traveled only with the Lesser Escort. But today's circumstances were special. The Emperor had won a great victory against the Red Eyebrows, a triumphant return, and was also bringing back the former dynasty's emperor. The display naturally had to be grand.

At the vanguard were nine-streamered cloud banners, phoenix halberds, leather-covered carriages, and simurgh flags. Behind were golden gongs, yellow battle-axes, and drum chariots of the Yellow Gate, with multicolored flags fluttering. As the great bells clanged and the wind and drum music sounded in unison, Zhang Song saw Diwu Lun's gilded carriage pass by. It was said to be an "armored carriage" with copper-plated walls, capable of stopping strong crossbow bolts. The Emperor himself did not show his face inside the carriage.

But Diwu Lun could certainly hear the cheers of the Chang'an people. Although the Red Eyebrow Army had not posed a threat to Guanzhong, people longed for peace. The swift elimination of those bandits who roamed everywhere looting homes was good news for everyone. Moreover, before Diwu Lun's return, news of his brilliant and martial prowess, of how he calmly commanded the great victory at the Heji battle when generals like Ma Yuan faced setbacks, had already spread throughout Chang'an. Diwu Lun placed great importance on propaganda work.

Thunderous cries of "Long live the Wei Emperor" rose and fell. Whether from genuine feeling or pressured by the crowd, Diwu Lun's prestige in Chang'an was gradually reaching its zenith.

And when the auxiliary carriages were nearly all past, the crowd noticed an extra small carriage following at the rear, similarly guarded tightly by crimson riders and guards, its windows shut fast. Someone guessed it was Wang Mang's carriage, and the mood instantly changed.

"Old villain Wang Mang!"

For a moment, boos erupted along Chang'an's main north-south avenue. Merchants from the Eastern and Western Markets, who had gathered there early, recalled the suffering under Wang Mang's rule and surged forward angrily, wanting to drag Wang Mang from the carriage and eat him alive.

Fortunately, they were stopped by the soldiers. All who caused trouble were arrested and dispersed for "assaulting the imperial carriage."

But many still clutched rotten vegetable leaves in their hands, hurling them at Wang Mang's carriage whenever they found an opening, though most were blocked by the retinue.

Yet the curses and boos, and the jolts caused by the occasional rotten leaf or egg striking the carriage, still terrified the old Wang Mang inside.

Ever since crossing Ba Bridge, Wang Mang had not had a moment's peace. All along the way were people filled with righteous indignation who wished him dead. There were Boar-Rush Braves veterans standing akimbo, cursing him by the roadside, and refugees from past disasters, now settled in Shanglin Park, holding out gruel boiled from grass and trees, shouting maliciously, hoping Wang Mang would taste it and see what he had fed the people during his disaster relief efforts back then.

After reaching the south of Chang'an, seeing the Xin Dynasty's Nine Temples, burned to the ground by Liu Bosheng's fire, Wang Mang felt a surge of mixed emotions. It was said that his twelve auspicious omens had also been destroyed in the flames.

Fortunately, the Three Harmony Halls and the Imperial Academy, which he had overseen the construction of, still stood there. However, the Erudites and disciples inside were also vying to curry favor with Diwu Lun, proclaiming Wang Mang a deceiver of the world like Shao Zhengmao, and hoping the sage king would execute him...

After entering Chang'an, the contrast became even starker. Ahead, Diwu Lun enjoyed the people's adoration, with cries of "long live" resounding. Wang Mang, on the other hand, suffered the greatest hatred. It was truly a case of fire and ice. Even though Wang Mang had anticipated this, he still felt deeply uncomfortable.

Only when the carriage entered Weiyang Palace and the slowly closing gates shut out all the noise did Wang Mang find a moment of quiet.

Yes, back then he had lived deep within the palace for years, unable to hear or see the voices of opposition. Now, without that high wall separating the inside from the outside, the harsh sounds reached his ears with perfect clarity. Even if Wang Mang covered his ears, they relentlessly burrowed into his heart.

All along, even in his near-success turned to failure, Wang Mang had still seen himself as "Confucius," shifting blame onto others. His prejudice against Diwu Lun was deep, and Diwu Lun's words could hardly hurt him. But the cries of the common people outside could.

The journey west from Luoyang was also a process in which the armor around Wang Mang's heart was stripped away piece by piece. He had broken down!

Though he had long been prepared for martyrdom, Wang Mang still harbored a faint hope in his heart: that there would be kind-hearted common people who understood his hardships and, like those tens of thousands of Red Eyebrows, would spare his life. Even if he could not avoid the final outcome, it would offer the old Wang Mang some small comfort.

But judging by this situation, at least in Chang'an, public sentiment was entirely one-sided.

When the carriage door opened, Wang Mang was somewhat distraught, unable even to move his feet.

It was Diwu Lun who, after strolling over, spoke a few fair words.

"Twenty years ago, forty-eight thousand seven hundred fifty-two officials and commoners of Chang'an submitted a petition, hoping that Old Wang would be granted the Nine Bestowments and become the Duke Who Pacifies the Han. Though there was manipulation then, the popular will was broadly correct."

"Over ten years ago, Old Wang oversaw the construction of the Three Harmony Halls. With one rallying cry, he gathered a hundred thousand Chang'an commoners to the work site south of the city to sift earth and ram walls. It was completed within a month—a veritable miracle."

"When I raised troops at Hongmen, Old Wang, in his helplessness, wept to Heaven south of the city. Over ten thousand people actually wept with you. It shows that at that time, some still harbored illusions about Old Wang."

"Yet today, the Chang'an commoners who once supported Old Wang are cursing him bitterly, hoping for his immediate death. In the past, the people of Chang'an loved Old Wang deeply; today, they hate Old Wang intensely! How did it come to this?"

Had this been when Diwu Lun first captured him, Wang Mang would surely have said it was that whelp Cao Cao manipulating public opinion. But today, he was listless and could not speak.

"Is it because the Wei officials and soldiers forced them with blades and power? Yet many among them are mere peddlers and hawkers, who came of their own accord, laboriously, from outside the city, just to stand by the roadside and hurl a curse at Old Wang to vent their anger."

Diwu Lun did not let Wang Mang off, continuing: "The common people are both ignorant and shrewd. They have a scale in their hearts. In the past, Old Wang once held the hearts of all under Heaven. Yet over fifteen years, blunders came one after another, until the people's hearts were utterly lost. Popular sentiment is like water. It once buoyed Old Wang to the supreme throne, and later it also allowed me to seize the moment, borrow this fury, and capsize the broken ship of the Xin Dynasty!"

With that, Diwu Lun cupped his hands toward Wang Mang: "Water can capsize the boat, water can capsize the boat. Old Wang rose from Chang'an, and it is fitting that it becomes the place where you meet your end. I will have Old Wang reside in the pavilion where Liu Ruzi Ying was once imprisoned. It is a secluded place. I hope that in your remaining days, Old Wang will reflect carefully: just how great are the crimes you have committed against the world?"

To turn the place where Wang Mang imprisoned Liu Ruzi Ying into Wang Mang's final cage—if old Liu Xin were still alive and knew of this, he would probably curse Wang Mang for reaping what he sowed, and be overjoyed...

Wang Mang, however, said nothing. Just as the carriage door was about to close again, Diwu Lun remembered something and turned back to say:

"Oh, yes. In a few days, someone will come to visit Old Wang."

Diwu Lun smiled: "The Han Empress Dowager Xiaoping, the Xin Dynasty's Princess Huanghuang, now one of the Two Kings and Three Esteemed Houses of our dynasty. She has learned that her old father is still alive. I wonder whether in her heart, she feels joy, or regret?"