Chapter 623: The Mountain Is High

Governor Yun Chang of Lu Commandery, wishing to avoid suspicion, was unwilling to submit the petition on behalf of the Kong clan. Yet Kong Zhi's memorial proposing Qufu as the capital still reached Diwu Lun's desk — forwarded instead by the Chamberlain for Ceremonials, Wang Long.

Wang Long explained, "This matter should not have troubled Your Majesty, but it is said that the Kong clan, for this purpose, specially dispatched men to canvass the Zeng clan of Nanwu City, the Meng clan of Zou City, and other classical-scholar houses. Their rhetoric is hardly praiseworthy, yet one can discern the wishes of the Lu region's scholars. Hence your servant dared not intercept it."

Diwu Lun leafed through the memorial and laughed. "It cites the classics and draws on the canons — how can it be called unworthy of notice?"

The various Confucian scholars and literati of Lu enumerated the reasons Diwu Lun should establish his eastern capital at Qufu. Beyond Qufu being the resting place of Confucius's tomb, they stressed that nearby Mount Tai was a "sacred mountain."

"Heaven is too high to reach. One erects the feng and shan altars upon Mount Tai and performs the sacrifices, hoping thereby to draw near the spirits. Mount Tai is the Eastern Marchmount, and fitting for an eastern capital. In antiquity, seventy-two houses performed the feng sacrifice on Mount Tai and the shan sacrifice on Mount Liangfu. After them, the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han both went to Mount Tai to perform the feng and shan. Your Majesty has just received the Mandate of five hundred years, reformed the institutions in response to Heaven, and when all under Heaven is at peace, you should complete the feng and shan to proclaim that peace."

The implication was: since Diwu Lun was a sage-king who appears once every five hundred years, certain to restore peace to the realm and bring back a golden age, matching the achievements of the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han — if he set the capital at Qufu, wouldn't performing the feng and shan later be convenient?

The Kong clan and the Lu scholars thought they had aimed their flattery perfectly, unaware that Diwu Lun was not so keen on the feng and shan.

Wang Long, however, had swallowed this line whole, finding a capital at Qufu not unacceptable — otherwise why would he have done them this favor and forwarded the memorial?

Diwu Lun handed the bamboo slips to the Imperial Academy Libationer, Huan Tan, who stood nearby. "Junshan is widely learned. What do you make of the various scholars' words?"

After reading, Huan Tan said, "Does Your Majesty wish to hear the harsh truth, or flattering falsehoods?"

Diwu Lun laughed. "Would Huan Junshan ever speak falsehoods?"

Huan Tan then cupped his hands toward Diwu Lun. "Then your servant shall begin from the very origin of the Mount Tai feng and shan... Huan Tan has no special talent, only a fondness for reading widely. What should be read, what should not — I have sought out nearly all of it. From this I have discovered: in the ancient texts before the Spring and Autumn period, even in the Spring and Autumn Annals composed by Confucius himself, or the Analects compiled by his disciples — though Mount Tai is mentioned several times, in those days, even officials and grandees could ascend to gaze afar without overstepping their station, and commoners could flee harsh governance and take refuge there. Yet despite Confucius's love of antiquity and reverence for ritual, he never once mentioned the feng and shan on Mount Tai..."

Seeing Huan Tan casting doubt on the very origins of the feng and shan, Wang Long protested, "Grandee Junshan, I too have read a fair number of books. I know that the earliest text to speak of the Mount Tai feng and shan is that of Guan Zhong of Qi, two hundred years earlier than Confucius! Master Guan says that the emperors and kings who performed the feng on Mount Tai and the shan on Mount Liangfu numbered seventy-two generations! From the Wuhuai clan and Fuxi down to Cheng Tang and King Cheng of Zhou."

"That would be the 'Feng and Shan' chapter in the Guanzi, I presume?" Huan Tan was dismissive. "The Guanzi, in my view, was composed by the assembled worthies of the Jixia Academy in the Warring States period, writing under ancient names. It should not be dated earlier than Confucius. Furthermore, in the time of King Cheng, the state of Lu had just been enfeoffed. If the Son of Heaven had truly come east on an inspection tour to perform the feng and shan, how could the historical records contain no mention of it?"

In short, Huan Tan suspected that the grand ceremony of the feng and shan on Mount Tai by seventy-two generations of emperors and kings was something the Jixia scholars who compiled the Guanzi had fabricated out of scattered ancient phrases!

"The Grand Historian's 'Treatise on the Feng and Shan' also states: 'The feng and shan ceremonies are separated by vast stretches of over a thousand years, or at the nearest, several centuries. Thus their rites have fallen into oblivion; their details cannot be obtained and recorded.'"

Huan Tan boldly advanced his hypothesis: "During the Warring States, Qi was powerful, nearly rivaling Qin as the Eastern and Western Emperors. The assembled ministers of the Jixia Academy, to help the King of Qi rule all under Heaven, fabricated ancient precedents. Among the Five Marchmounts, Mount Tai is not necessarily taller than the Western Hua, the Southern Pillar of Heaven, the Central Song, or the Northern Heng. But it is closest to Qi and Lu, and most recognized by the people of the east, who believed that ascending Mount Tai made all under Heaven seem small. Hence this theory emerged."

"After two hundred years of propagation, it became the consensus of the realm. When the First Emperor of Qin unified the Nine Provinces and supplanted Zhou as emperor, he too believed the words of the Qi fangshi and Lu scholars, and came here to perform the feng and shan. Yet when the eastern scholars were pressed for the detailed protocols of the seventy-two generations of emperors and kings, they spoke with absolute certainty — but when it came to the actual rites, their accounts were vague and contradictory. Things having reached this point, the First Emperor of Qin could only simplify the rituals, force the ceremony through, and return."

What rites were actually used did not matter. What mattered was that the First Emperor of Qin had ascended Mount Tai and completed the feng and shan. That was enough! A fabricated ancient tale was thus realized and became an established institution.

Wang Long was stunned speechless. Huan Tan actually believed the Mount Tai feng and shan was a vulgar Confucian notion, unrecorded in the Odes and Documents, not factual — and that Mount Tai was no sacred mountain at all. If the Lu scholars outside heard this, it would likely provoke a tremendous uproar.

Diwu Lun understood. What Huan Tan meant was: the Mount Tai feng and shan had always been a concept hyped by Warring States scholars, who then went around soliciting investment. The First Emperor of Qin invested, making the story come true. Later, Emperor Wu of Han followed up with another round of investment, and the Mount Tai feng and shan was nailed down, ready to go public and cash out...

After more than a hundred years, the heat around Mount Tai and Qufu had cooled somewhat. After all, in terms of geographical advantage, they were inferior to Linzi to the north and Pengcheng to the south. They could only play the cultural card. The Lu scholars, literati, and powerful families urgently needed the Great Wei Emperor to invest another round, designating Qufu as the eastern capital, so the story could continue to be told, enduring alongside the dynasty...

But they had miscalculated. Diwu Lun's visit to Qufu to honor Confucius and establish the Five Co-Venerables was, in name, a gesture of reverence for Confucius, but in reality, a move to curtail the "Confucian cult."

"I intend to build a Temple of Culture in Chang'an, practically moving the Qufu Confucian Temple there. That way, when I and future Sons of Heaven wish to venerate Confucius, we may pay our respects just by leaving the palace, without traveling a thousand li, consuming the people's strength and wealth, to come to the foot of Mount Tai."

After all, if one wishes to meet the true Confucius, one should seek him in the Analects — which has had little chance of being extensively altered — and feel the earnest teachings of a model teacher, feel his joys and angers, his sorrows and pleasures as an ordinary man. In Qufu, whether now or in the "Three Kongs" two thousand years hence, all one can find is a gilded false Confucius.

Since Diwu Lun's very purpose was to diminish Qufu's cultural standing, how could he possibly approve establishing the eastern capital in Lu?

But openly, Diwu Lun said neither yes nor no. He merely had Wang Long convey a single sentence to Kong Zhi and the others waiting with craned necks.

"Mount Tai swallows the Western Hua, presses down the Southern Pillar of Heaven, rides over the Central Song, and surpasses the Northern Heng — it is the chief of the Five Marchmounts. Qufu too is a sacred ground. However..."

"Mount Tai remains in the hands of the Red Eyebrow bandits. Occupying the heights, they can at any moment descend upon Qufu at the beat of a drum. How can it serve as a capital?"

The excuse Diwu Lun found was indeed irrefutable. Although two years had passed since the Red Eyebrow leader Fan Chong was captured and imprisoned, and half a year since the Red Eyebrow remnants were routed from Qufu, the banner of the Red Eyebrow Army still flew. Xu Xuan had led several thousand followers up Mount Tai and continued to resist stubbornly from their stronghold.

"The Red Eyebrows rose from Mount Tai, and now they have returned to Mount Tai. Truly it makes one sigh."

In the first ten days of the fourth month of the fourth year of Wude, Diwu Lun departed Qufu and traveled north into the territory of Taishan Commandery. Everywhere he saw utter destitution. Conditions in Taishan Commandery were worse than in Huaibei, which had nearly become a land of ghosts. The Red Eyebrows rose, the Red Eyebrows left, the Red Eyebrows returned — but Mount Tai remained in chaos. Desperate men, using this uplifted hilly region on the Shandong Peninsula, hid in the dense forests, attacking merchant travelers and even daring to assault small military units!

And now, with the Red Eyebrows' return, the Mount Tai bandits had reshuffled and fallen under their command, becoming a stubborn local scourge.

Diwu Lun had already deployed Ju Wuba and several other lieutenant generals and colonels to launch converging attacks from multiple directions. But he knew well that this only treated the symptoms. This time, Diwu Lun wanted to treat the root cause!

When the imperial carriage reached Taishan Commandery, a summoned minister, travel-worn and dusty, hurried over and paid his respects to Diwu Lun.

"Your guilty servant Wang Hong pays homage to Your Majesty!"

The visitor was none other than Diwu Lun's old acquaintance — Wang Mang's cousin, the former Grand Governor of Dong Commandery, Wang Hong.

"What crime has Grandee Wang committed?"

Diwu Lun helped the white-haired "elder statesman of three dynasties" to his feet. Though Wang Hong had served Han, Xin, and Wei, he was by no means a turncoat serving three masters. Each change of dynasty had its reasons beyond his control.

When the Han dynasty still stood, Wang Hong was a famously outspoken minister, daring to rebuke Emperor Ai of Han's beloved, Dong Xian, right before the emperor's face.

When the Xin Dynasty was established, though Wang Hong was of the imperial clan, he did not support the usurpation and was viewed with suspicion by Wang Mang. Originally the number-two figure in the Wang family, he was driven from the court and sent to Dong Commandery as an official, living in constant fear that the temperamental and cruel Wang Mang would one day order his death. So Wang Hong always wore a poison vial around his neck...

But as Diwu Lun looked closely, he noticed that the poison vial on Wang Hong's neck was finally gone.

It could not be helped. After the Xin Dynasty fell, Wang Hong surrendered to Diwu Lun, hoping for the protection of the Wei army. But Diwu Lun regarded him only as a discarded pawn. Later, when the Red Eyebrows captured Puyang, Wang Hong, unwilling to suffer humiliation, resolutely drank poison to end his life...

However, the poison had long been swapped for flour by his nephew. Wang Hong was captured, and uncle and nephew even met Wang Mang, who had changed his name and surname and was hiding among the Red Eyebrows.

Only after the Red Eyebrow main force was destroyed was Wang Hong rescued by the Wei army. Diwu Lun, probably feeling some shame over the Puyang affair, enfeoffed him as a marquis and appointed him Grandee of the Palace of Illustrious Fortune, letting Wang Hong recuperate in Dong Commandery...

Summoned again today, Wang Hong's heart was uneasy, not knowing the reason. Though he no longer wore a poison vial around his neck, sewn into his sleeve was a small pouch that indeed held a dose of poison. If the Emperor had changed his mind and wanted to eliminate him, a remnant of the Wang clan, then Wang Hong would not trouble others to act — he would die right before the Wei Emperor!

Then he heard Diwu Lun say, "I have asked Grandee Wang here today because I truly wish to ask about pacifying the Red Eyebrows on Mount Tai."

Wang Hong gave a bitter smile. "Your Majesty, this old man could not preserve Puyang, and was even captured by the Red Eyebrows, dragged along for months. How dare I speak lightly of it?"

Diwu Lun shook his head. "At the end of the Xin, above there was Wang Mang acting perversely, below there were commanderies and counties flattering him and acting recklessly. Only Grandee Wang defended Dong Commandery, preserving its three hundred thousand households for a long time."

At that time, Diwu Lun had been right next door in Wei Commandery, seeing his neighbors' situation with perfect clarity. Though Dong Commandery suffered from the Red Eyebrows very early, the main cause was not Wang Hong, but Wang Mang, the neighboring commanderies, and, even more, the frequently temperamental Yellow River!

Diwu Lun told Wang Hong, "I have resolved to carry out modest repairs on the Yellow River's new course, building dikes and embankments to spare Yanzhou further flood disasters. The labor for the river works will be the one hundred thousand Red Eyebrow remnant troops from the Great River."

Wang Hong was deeply comforted to hear this. When he had been in Dong Commandery, he had submitted memorials to Wang Mang year after year, weeping and pleading, saying that if the Yellow River was allowed to continue its rampages, disaster downstream was certain. No matter how many measures Wang Hong used to pacify the people, whenever the Yellow River acted up, it could produce tens of thousands, even over a hundred thousand refugees — all fresh recruits for the Red Eyebrows.

"Now with Your Majesty's sagely virtue, if only this root cause, the Yellow River, can be brought under control, what a blessing for all the commanderies along its banks!"

"We can only make the Great River somewhat more settled in its new course. To fully harness it — how could that be easy?" Diwu Lun shook his head. Harnessing the Yellow River was a manpower project on the scale of millions, involving extremely complex planning. For now, he could only make minor repairs, ensuring the Yellow River did not produce major news before the realm was unified. That was all.

Diwu Lun said, "Though the river is temporarily calmed, the Red Eyebrow remnants are gathered on Mount Tai. In the beginning, men like Fan Chong rose with only a few hundred. I am uneasy, fearing the Red Eyebrows might revive and once more rampage across Yanzhou. That is why I seek your counsel, Grandee!"

Seeing the Emperor's sincere attitude, not a deliberate humiliation, Wang Hong relaxed slightly. He loosened the fingers hidden in his sleeve that had been clutching the poison pill, ready to shove it into his mouth at any moment, and said, "Your Majesty need not be overly anxious. In Wang Mang's time, if governance had been proper, the Red Eyebrows would not have grown so large."

Wang Hong said, "At first, the common people everywhere were driven only by hunger, cold, and poverty to take desperate risks and become bandits. Gradually they gathered into groups, but still hoped for a good harvest so they could return to their homeland. Though their numbers reached the tens of thousands, leaders like Fan Chong only called themselves Giant, Attendant, Elder, or Libationer. They dared not attack walled cities, living only by plunder for food, content if they ate their fill each day. They never had the ambitions of a Chen Sheng or Wu Guang. But Wang Mang never understood this principle."

"That year, a Major under the Grand Marshal came to Yanzhou to handle a case and was captured by the bandits. Yet they dared not kill him, and instead escorted him back to the county seat, hoping this man could submit a memorial on their behalf, to make clear to Wang Mang that they had absolutely no intent to rebel — they simply could not survive. This Major under the Grand Minister of Works reported truthfully, but Wang Mang flew into a great rage, deeming it deception of the sovereign, and threw him into prison! He also issued a proclamation reprimanding the Four Supports and Three Dukes..."

Diwu Lun nodded. He still remembered the content of Wang Mang's edict. It had two main points:

First, it questioned the bandits gathering in the east: why not be quiet, starving corpses, instead of imitating the mantis that raises its arms against the chariot?

Second, it informed the civil and military officials: these are no longer ordinary bandits — we must strike with a heavy fist!

Thereupon the officials below grew even more fearful. Some began to stop telling the truth, insisting that their jurisdictions held only petty thieves, no bandits massing in groups. As for those who did speak the truth, not only were they rebuked by Wang Mang, they were also forbidden to raise troops and suppress the bandits on their own authority — they had to wait for the central government's "royal army" to arrive. The result was that the Red Eyebrows grew ever larger.

Diwu Lun had come today with an attitude of testing and assessment, so he asked Wang Hong: "This was Wang Mang's error. What does the Grand Master think should have been done then to stop the Red Eyebrows from running rampant?"

Wang Hong said: "A large army advancing to exterminate them was only the lowest strategy. Where armies encamp, thorns and brambles grow — and what is more, the Xin army's discipline was utterly poor. The common people sang, 'Better to meet the Red Eyebrows than to meet the Xin army.'"

"In this guilty subject's humble opinion, the best strategy at the time would have been to listen more to the people's voice, lighten corvée, and reduce taxes."

Wang Hong bowed again and said: "At the time, Wang Mang lacked a heart that pitied the people, and the officials of the Xin dynasty lacked the resources and ability to carry it out. But Your Majesty can! By slightly restraining the Yellow River, implementing the military-agricultural colony system, allowing hundreds of thousands of refugees to settle and find a way to survive, you can cut off the bandits' source of reinforcements. The remnant Red Eyebrow bands on Mount Tai will grow fewer and fewer, and in the end they will be defeated and perish."

"Excellent." Diwu Lun clapped in praise. "Indeed, exterminating bandits is the task of a Colonel."

"But lightening corvée and reducing taxes, organizing military-agricultural colonies, and supervising the commanderies' execution — that is the task of a Regional Inspector."

"I ask you, Lord Wang, to try serving as Regional Inspector of Yan Province!"

……

"Long ago, when Confucius passed by the side of Mount Tai, he came to the insight that 'tyrannical rule is fiercer than tigers.' As early as the Spring and Autumn period, the people of Lu would rather three generations of their family die in the jaws of Mount Tai's vicious tigers than go and submit to the tyrannical rule of the Three Huan. It is the same today."

"If there were no tyrannical rule outside, with proper registered households to be, why would anyone suffer to rush into the tiger's jaws? I hope Regional Inspector Wang can aid me in ridding Yan Province of its 'vicious tigers'!"

By the time Diwu Lun's carriage departed Mount Tai Commandery, Wang Hong, the newly installed Regional Inspector of Yan Province, looked at the heavy seal and cord at his waist and still felt somewhat dazed. His emotions were very complicated.

There was the gratification of having served through three reigns and finally receiving a heavy responsibility.

There was the feeling of being moved that Diwu Lun did not hold his clan name against him and extended trust and employment.

But more than anything, there was worry over whether he could do the job of Regional Inspector of Yan Province well. A remnant of a fallen dynasty like himself — could he command the Governors of the various commanderies? Would the generals and colonels ordered to suppress Mount Tai give him face? If he ruined the affairs of Yan Province, how could he live up to Diwu Lun's high expectations?

Wang Hong was utterly torn. His hands tucked in his sleeves, after hesitating a long while, he took out that poison pill — the physician had assured Wang Hong that this time it would definitely be lethal! This time for sure!

Then he threw it on the ground and crushed it underfoot!

Wang Hong bowed deeply from afar toward Diwu Lun's carriage. And Diwu Lun also lifted the carriage curtain and looked back at the majestic Mount Tai.

There was no arrogance of "how short it is" — only humility and reverence.

For a thousand years, Mount Tai has silently gazed down upon the world. It has seen the weeping under tyrannical rule fiercer than tigers, heard the Master's sighs and laments after reaching the summit, and witnessed the splendor and glory of the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han performing the Feng and Shan sacrifices time and again — and also the sweat streaming from the shoulders of the porters who accompanied them, and the resolve of Red Eyebrow warriors who smeared its red earth on their foreheads!

Yet Mount Tai is silent, just as the poem says: craggy is Mount Tai, with the pines of Culai and the cypresses of Xinfu.

Lowering the carriage curtain, Diwu Lun felt that this was probably the last time he would travel through the land of Lu.

"There is no need to ascend your summit to flaunt power and might. To quell the wars, to return you to peace, and to let you bear witness to the conclusion of this tale of rise and fall — that is enough."