Chapter 9: Filial Piety and Fraternal Duty Cannot Save the Great Xin

County Magistrate Xianyu Bao had actually been quite pleased at first.

Today's affair had been a dangerous one. If the Sixth and Seventh clans had truly shed blood and brought the matter to the commandery or county, his political enemies would have branded it as "clan brothers fighting — proof that the County Magistrate has failed in moral instruction." By convention, Magistrate Xianyu would then have been reprimanded by the commandery's Grand Governor, damaging his career.

Fortunately, Diwu Lun had reported it promptly and volunteered to go with the water officer to settle the matter. Before long, Seventh Biao and Sixth Du had obediently come to the county temple to beg Magistrate Xianyu's forgiveness.

This was not litigation — absolutely not! Xianyu Bao stressed this point repeatedly, making it clear that he was merely admonishing the two men in his capacity as County Magistrate. And the hallmark of moral judgment is that it does not determine right or wrong, nor declare winners and losers, but takes reconciliation between both parties as its ultimate goal.

At the Assistant Magistrate's suggestion, Xianyu Bao also imitated the story of Han Yanshou from the time of Emperor Xuan of the Former Han, and staged a little play.

Seventh Biao could be counted as an acquaintance of the County Magistrate, having slipped him plenty of benefits in the past. But Xianyu Bao completely ignored his pleading eyes and had the Assistant Magistrate order Seventh Biao to strip off his upper garment in public. Together with Sixth Du, bare-chested, under the gaze of the crowd, they knelt in the courtyard of the county temple.

The minor clerks around them whispered among themselves, pointing at Seventh Biao. He could not shake the feeling that they were all laughing. Though deeply unwilling, to keep his Precinct Chief post and protect his family, he could only swallow his humiliation and bear the burden.

Sixth Du, for his part, accepted the affair as sweet as syrup. With this safeguard in place, at least while the County Magistrate remained in office, the Seventh clan would probably not dare to contest the water again.

But the grateful gaze of Sixth Du was directed even more at Diwu Lun, who had arrived somewhat later and blended into the crowd. This youth, at such a young age, had already become the township's Filial and Fraternal Exemplar and won the County Magistrate's esteem — his future was boundless.

Following the Assistant Magistrate's cues, the two men stuck rigidly to the agreed script and loudly declared that they had been momentarily muddled and fallen into dispute, but, moved by the County Magistrate's virtuous influence, they now deeply repented and would never dare to fight again.

"From now on, let the Seventh clan use the water first! Seven is greater than Six!"

"No, no, let the Sixth clan use it first! Your family moved here earlier than ours, and you are older than I."

How farcical. In the morning they had been brawling with weapons, fighting to the death; by afternoon they put on this show of brotherly deference and humility. Only their acting was poor — they merely recited their lines, while their eyes all but lunged to beat the other senseless.

And at that moment, County Magistrate Xianyu Bao made his entrance. With a cough, he timely opened his chamber and extended an invitation, setting out a meal and sitting face to face with the two men to eat, serving as witness to their reconciliation. He also publicized the matter throughout the county.

Needless to say, the final result was that the county was abuzz, and every official vied to spread word of the County Magistrate's virtue. As for the common people, upon hearing of this affair, they too would engage in self-reflection. This autumn, surely not a single person would come to the county to file a lawsuit.

Of course there would be none! Before they could even reach the gates of the county temple, they would be persuaded to turn back — by a mix of hard and soft tactics from moral-instruction petty officers like the Elders and the Filial and Fraternal Exemplars.

In short, a bad thing had been turned into a good one. Xianyu Bao had ruthlessly padded his political credentials, and his impression of Diwu Lun grew even better. He decided to cast him as a "supporting character" in this story and report him to the commandery for commendation — the year-end reward for the Filial and Fraternal Exemplar would be raised from two bolts of silk to three.

Diwu Lun, however, stood apart from the affair, watching this absurd scene with a multitude of emotions.

"The Master said: In hearing litigation, I am like any other man. What is necessary, however, is to cause there to be no litigation."

No litigation — that was the ideal state of governance for the Confucian school. Whatever could be resolved by morality was absolutely never brought before the law. This tendency had already existed in the Han, with prohibitions against sons suing fathers or slaves suing masters. The authorities were unwilling to intervene in clan disputes, leaving them solely to the Elders and Filial and Fraternal Exemplars to mediate.

By the Xin Dynasty, it had grown even more absurd: the number of lawsuits within one's jurisdiction had actually become one of the criteria for official promotion. If not a single person came to lodge a complaint, that was a political achievement worthy of being highlighted in the annual report to the capital.

And what if lawsuits could not be curbed?

Then deal with the troublemakers who filed them.

"But does 'no litigation' mean the conflicts are resolved? Isn't it just temporarily smothering the problems?"

This only hardened Diwu Lun's resolve. When Xianyu Bao summoned him for a private audience, he stepped forward, cupped his hands, and returned the half-seal: "I am grateful for Your Honor the County Magistrate's regard, in sending someone to recruit Diwu Lun and conferring upon me the post of township Filial and Fraternal Exemplar."

"I, Lun, am but a youth barely past my capping, of meager talent and shallow knowledge, unworthy of holding an official post. But at the time, seeing the Sixth and Seventh clan brothers fighting within the family wall, I, Lun, as a fellow clansman, was deeply ashamed and dared not look on and do nothing. Therefore I accepted the seal and volunteered, bearing the County Magistrate's handwritten letter to admonish them."

"Now that the two families have repented, kowtowed, and reconciled, Diwu Lun's duty is fulfilled. I consider myself too young and my virtue too thin to guide the township or aid in moral transformation. It is proper that I earnestly resign!"

The meaning was this: he had only taken the post to borrow the identity to mediate the fight. Now that the matter was settled, forgive him, but his abilities were limited, and he would not continue as an officer.

It was simply too sudden. Xianyu Bao was stunned and immediately spoke up to urge him to stay, but Diwu Lun was utterly resolute. After bowing twice, he left the county temple. By rule, an officer who resigned could not be forcibly detained, so they could only let him go.

Xianyu Bao stared at the half-seal Diwu Lun had left on the table. For a long while he could not react, and even less could he fathom why this youth would resign. After a moment, a thought flashed through his mind.

"Could it be that he… thinks this post is too small?"

…

Though it was a case of a lecher seeing lechery everywhere, Xianyu Bao, that "corrupt official with a bottom line," had guessed half-right.

Diwu Lun did indeed think the Filial and Fraternal Exemplar post was too small.

He had already inquired clearly: this post carried no court salary, no authority to govern the people, not even a single subordinate — a bare commander without an army. He would also have to take orders from the township Elder and assist him in managing moral instruction.

Under the Xin Dynasty's peculiar national condition of governing through Confucian arts, with the authorities unwilling to accept lawsuits, the workload of the Elders and Filial and Fraternal Exemplars had skyrocketed. From brothers dividing a household to a neighbor's lost chicken, from incest with a daughter-in-law to keeping a brother-in-law — they had to meddle in everything. Elders were generally older and could rely on their age to laze about in the township; the young Filial and Fraternal Exemplar had to shoulder the legwork, rushing back and forth to settle all sorts of trivial, petty matters.

If a rare moral paragon appeared in the township, the Filial and Fraternal Exemplar might be rewarded with an extra bolt or two of cloth. But if, on the contrary, moral instruction failed, and incidents like brothers fighting over land or neighbors brawling to the death occurred, the higher-ups would "charge them with the crime of disloyalty and hold the Elder and Filial and Fraternal Exemplar accountable for the fault of failing to instruct."

In short: zero real power, a mountain of trouble, and an easy scapegoat.

Diwu Lun was certainly not going to be that fool: "No wages, and you still want me to carry the blame? Dream on!"

Beyond this, Diwu Lun's iron resolve to resign also stemmed from the great drama he had observed at the county temple today — he had discovered a crisis lurking beneath the calm.

He looked up. The road home passed through many hamlets. In the imagination of later generations, the environment two thousand years ago must have been superb — primeval forests dense, yellow sheep and elk running all over the hills. In truth, it was not so…

At least in the region of the various mausoleums north of the Wei River, on this fringe of the Loess Plateau, after several centuries of development through the Qin and Han, the vegetation cover was no longer high. Many hills and ridges had even been stripped bare, leaving only a heap of withered stumps.

Diwu Hamlet was still all right, but around some villages, for over a dozen li, not a stick of firewood could be gathered. Axes could only turn toward more distant forests. The authorities' ordinances in the "Monthly Ordinances for the Four Seasons" forbade reckless deforestation, but they could not stop the people's urgent need to open new land and chop firewood.

The Guanzhong environment was already far more fragile than in the early Han. The Jing River grew muddier by the day. Two years earlier, it had even silted up and changed course at Changping Post north of Changling, sending multitudes of disaster victims fleeing their homes.

The Yellow River, needless to say, was a mortal affliction for the Xin Dynasty. Diwu Lun had heard that its dikes had been breached for several years without being sealed, generating hundreds of thousands of refugees in the Central Plains.

Looking at the mountains already stripped of trees, the somewhat thin and muddy water in the canals, and the farmland and hamlets expanding ever outward, Diwu Lun understood clearly in his heart.

"Today's water dispute between the Sixth and Seventh families was by no means an isolated, accidental event. There are profound reasons behind it."

Though disputes exist wherever there are people, behind the frequent water conflicts was, in truth, the contradiction between the increasingly saturated population of the Guanzhong Plain and its limited resources. After all, the empire's population at this time had already surpassed sixty million — the very limit that the productive forces of this era could sustain.

The specific household count of Changling was an official secret, unknown to Diwu Lun. But according to his grandfather, this county was a large one, with nearly two hundred thousand people — equal to two or three border commanderies. With so many people crammed into such a small area, was water the only thing in short supply?

The truth was, the common people lacked not only land, grain, and the daily fuel they needed, but also work. There was not enough land to farm; commerce was suppressed; crafts — did you have the skills? No wonder the hamlets were full of idle, good-for-nothing young toughs. Unable to survive in their hamlets, they could only drift to the edges of cities to beg for food, or attach themselves to powerful families as retainers.

To compete for resources, conflicts in the counties, townships, and hamlets of Guanzhong grew by the day. The Xin Dynasty bureaucrats never thought to develop productive forces to weather the crisis; instead, they simply smothered these disputes, pursuing the ideal of "no litigation" to maintain a surface appearance of "peaceful governance."

So let them smother it. Beneath the calm water's surface, hidden currents surged. No one knew when they would smother it into a great wave, giving Wang Mang's Xin a big surprise.

"With conflicts accumulating day after day and month after month like this, when the day comes that the river bursts from being dammed up, the harm to people will be immense."

Thinking thus, Diwu Lun once again felt a sense of crisis. Seeing that the sky was already growing dark, he could not help but spur his horse and flick his whip, quickening his pace.

"People of this age always believe that a wise king governs all under heaven with filial piety and fraternal duty."

"But relying on filial piety and fraternal duty alone can never save the world!"

…

Seventh Biao, who had bared his torso and acted out that play at the county temple, did not drag his exhausted body back home until dawn the next morning.

His sudden repentance and awakening at the county temple had instantly vanished. In a rage, he swept the jars and pots from the table crashing to the floor, his eyes brimming with fury and hatred.

How could he not hate? For a knight-errant, what mattered most? Not life itself — but face!

For the sake of face, they would draw blades against someone who merely glanced at them one extra time on the road — slashing at necks above, severing livers and lungs below, leaving corpses strewn across the way.

For the sake of face, they would swell their cheeks to play the fat man, buying fine swords and excellent blades they could never truly afford, wearing them all day as they swaggered through the streets.

Face was the very foundation upon which a gallant family stood. What would happen if they lost it?

Diqi Biao was finding out. When he returned home, he discovered everyone wearing mourning faces, like defeated roosters. The village youths who had attached themselves to his family had already scattered in a single uproar. One who was slow to leave was just heading out with a bundle on his back; Diqi Biao stopped him and asked.

Though shame showed on the youth's face, he was still determined to go. He bowed to Diqi Biao and said: "The whole village says: Diwu Cigong, at seventy, beat Zhongjun with his bare hands; Diwu Boyu gave one shouted command, and Bojun at once prostrated himself and bared his flesh. The Diqi clan is far beneath the Diwu grandfather and grandson."

"They were too ashamed to remain as retainers under the Diqi clan any longer and left last night. As for me... my family has arranged a marriage for me, so I can no longer be a gallant. I hope Bojun will not take offense."

With that, he made to leave, but Diqi Bao burst out. The kick Diwu Ba had landed had injured his internal organs, and he had been drinking; he staggered as he walked, brandishing his sword to chase down and kill the youth who was betraying the Diqi clan. Fortunately, Diqi Biao stopped him.

"If you kill him, will our family's prestige come back?"

Diqi Bao wailed loudly: "Elder Brother, that Diwu whelp made you suffer such utter humiliation — I cannot bear it. Once my wounds heal, I will take men and raid Diwu Village, and use the blood of Diwu Ba and Diwu Lun to wash away the shame..."

In truth, the one who had humiliated them was the County Magistrate, but the two brothers dared not harbor any resentment toward him. They laid all the blame solely on Diwu Lun, who seemed "easier to provoke."

Diqi Biao still had his wits about him: "Our family, having endured this calamity, has lost all face and become the laughingstock of the village. Aside from our own clansmen, dozens of gallant youths have scattered in an uproar. How can we contend with the Diwu clan, whose reputation is now at its height? What's more, he has gained the County Magistrate's favor — we must not act rashly."

"Is this matter to be dropped just like that? How could I ever have the face to walk through the village again? I would be mocked by the county folk for the rest of my life." Diqi Bao touched his collapsed nose. That meddlesome Diwu Lun had certainly reaped a full harvest of prestige this time. From now on, the object of the village youths' admiration might shift from their brothers to the Diwu grandfather and grandson.

"We brothers have run rampant in this village for over ten years — when have we ever suffered a loss like this?"

Diqi Biao already had a plan. He looked at the pale belly-white of dawn gradually showing outside: "I will go to the township seat first and report this matter to the Township Bailiff, Diyi Liu."

The Diyi clan was indisputably the foremost among the families that had migrated west. With a vast estate, they possessed over two hundred qing of farmland and more than a hundred servants — the sole "township magnate" in this locality. Their network of connections extended beyond the county, reaching up to the commandery. If only they could drag the Diyi clan into the fray to oppose them, the Biao and Bao brothers would only need to hide behind them like dogs, barking furiously at the Diwu clan.

As Diqi Biao left, he carefully admonished his younger brother, who was drinking to numb the pain: "You stay put at home, and absolutely do not go provoke the Diwu clan!"

"Yes."

Diqi Bao agreed readily enough, but the moment his elder brother left the house, he immediately changed his clothes, put on a ring-pommel saber, wrapped a kerchief around his head, and went out. Enduring the pain, he mounted a horse — but he did not head for Diwu Village. Instead, he rode straight west.

His target lay a hundred li away.

"I promised Elder Brother I would not provoke Diwu Lun and his grandfather... I won't go myself!"

Diqi Bao took another swig of wine and ground his teeth: "I am going to seek out the great gallant Yuan She of Maoling and beg him to send his gallant followers to kill Diwu Lun!"

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