1
卷九十九下王莽傳第六十九下
From Volume 99, Part Two: Biography of Wang Mang, Part Three.
2
四年五月，莽曰：「保成師友祭酒唐林、故諫議祭酒琅邪紀逡，孝弟忠恕，敬上愛下，博通舊聞，德行醇備，至於黃發，靡有愆失。 其封林為建德侯，逡為封德侯，位皆特進，見禮如三公。 賜弟一區，錢三百萬，授幾杖焉。」
In the fifth month of the fourth year of his reign, Wang Mang declared that Tang Lin, libationer to the "Protect and Complete, Master and Friend" college, and Ji Xun of Langye, former libationer of remonstrance, embodied filial piety, brotherly duty, loyalty, and forbearance; honored those above and cared for those below; commanded the classical tradition; and had kept an unblemished record into old age. He therefore ennobled Tang Lin as Marquis of Jiande and Ji Xun as Marquis of Fengde, advanced both to the rank of tejin, and accorded them the ceremonial standing of the three dukes. Grant one residence district each, three million cash, and present a stool and staff to them."
3
六月，更授諸侯茅土於明堂，曰：「予製作地理，建封五等，考之經藝，合之傳記，通於義理，論之思之，至於再三，自始建國之元以來九年於茲，乃今定矣。 予親設文石之平，陳菁茅四色之土，欽告於岱宗泰社后土、先祖先妣，以班授之。 各就厥國，養牧民人，用成功業。 其在緣邊，若江南，非詔所召，遣侍於帝城者，納言掌貨大夫且調都內故錢，予其祿，公歲八十萬，侯、伯四十萬，子、男二十萬。」 然復不能盡得。 莽好空言，慕古法，多封爵人，性實遴嗇，託以地理未定，故且先賦茅土，用慰喜封者。
In the sixth month, he again bestowed thatch and soil on the feudal lords in the Bright Hall, saying, "I have arranged the geography and established enfeoffment in five ranks. I examined it in the classics and the arts, compared it with the transmitted records, and made it consistent with principle. I discussed and considered it again and again. From the first year of Establishing the State to the present, nine years have passed, and only now is it settled. He said he had personally laid the marble leveling stone, set out the colored clays and sacred thatch, and made solemn announcement on Mount Tai, at the Grand Altars of Soil and Earth, and before the spirits of his forebears before distributing the tokens. Each noble was to take up his nominal domain, nurture the people, and thereby build a true record of rule. For those on the frontier, or in places such as the south of the Yangtze, who are not summoned by edict and sent to attend at the imperial city, the Grandee in charge of goods under the Nayan shall provisionally draw on old cash from the capital storehouses and provide their salaries: eight hundred thousand a year for a duke, four hundred thousand for a marquis or earl, and two hundred thousand for a viscount or baron." In practice, however, not everyone received what was promised. Wang Mang loved grand pronouncements and antique forms, showered titles while remaining miserly at heart, and hid behind the claim that boundaries were unsettled—so he handed out only the ritual turf and soil to placate those delighted with empty honors.
4
是歲，復明六管之令。 每一管下，為設科條防禁，犯者罪至死，吏民抵罪者浸眾。 又一切調上公以下諸有奴婢者，率一口出錢三千六百，天下愈愁，盜賊起。 納言馮常以六管諫，莽大怒，免常官。 置執法左右刺奸。 選用能吏侯霸等分督六尉、六隊，如漢刺史，與三公士郡一人從事。
That same year he reissued and tightened the "six monopolies" regulations. Each monopoly came with a dense web of statutes; violations could mean death, and more and more officials and commoners fell afoul of the law. He also imposed a flat levy of 3,600 cash per slave on every household from the highest ministers down, deepening popular misery and sparking rebellion. When the Nayan minister Feng Chang criticized the six monopolies, Wang Mang flew into a rage and stripped him of his post. He created "law-enforcement" investigators on left and right to spy on malfeasance. Capable officials such as Hou Ba were chosen to oversee the six metropolitan commands and six army corps on the model of Former Han provincial inspectors, each working with one clerk detached from the three excellencies per commandery.
5
臨淮瓜田儀等為盜賊，依阻會稽長州，琅邪女子呂母亦起。 初，呂母子為縣吏，為宰所冤殺。 母散家財，以酤酒買兵弩，陰厚貧窮少年，得百餘人，遂攻海曲縣，殺其宰以祭子墓。 引兵入海，其眾浸多，後皆萬數。 莽遣使者即赦盜賊，還言：「盜賊解，輒復合。 問其故，皆曰愁法禁煩苛，不得舉手。 力作所得，不足以給貢稅。 閉門自守，又坐鄰伍鑄錢挾銅，奸吏因以愁民。 民窮，悉起為盜賊。」 莽大怒，免之。 其或順指，言「民驕黠當誅」。 及言「時運適然，且滅不久」，莽說，輒遷之。
In Linhuai, Guatian Yi and others took to banditry, using the marshy fastness of Changzhou in Kuaiji as a base, while in Langye a woman named Lü Mu raised her own force. Lü Mu's son had been a county clerk until the magistrate had him killed on a trumped-up charge. She spent her fortune on brewing wine and buying arms, quietly won over more than a hundred desperate young men, stormed Haiqu, executed the magistrate, and offered his blood at her son's grave. She withdrew into the coastal marshes; her following swelled until each band numbered in the tens of thousands. Mang sent envoys immediately to pardon bandits and robbers; returning they said: "The bandits and robbers disperse, then again combine. Asked why, they all said, "We grieve that the laws and prohibitions are vexatious and harsh, and we cannot lift a hand. Even hard labor could not cover the endless taxes and levies. Those who shut their doors to stay out of trouble were still ruined by collective liability when neighbors minted coin or hoarded copper, while corrupt clerks used the rules to extort them. The people were exhausted; all rose to become bandits and robbers." Wang Mang was furious and dismissed the envoys. Those who complied with his intent said, "The people are arrogant and crafty and ought to be executed." And those who said, "The times' fortune is just so; moreover they will soon be extinguished," Wang Mang was pleased and promptly promoted them.
6
是歲八月，莽親之南郊，鑄作威鬥。 威斗者，以五石銅為之，若北斗，長二尺五寸，欲以厭勝眾兵。 既成，令司命負之，莽出在前，入在御旁。 鑄斗日，大寒，百官人馬有凍死者。
In the eighth month of that year Wang Mang personally attended the southern suburb rites and ordered the casting of the "Majesty Dipper" talisman. It was a two-and-a-half-foot bronze simulacrum of the Big Dipper, meant as an occult counter to hostile armies. Once cast, he made the Director of Fate carry it on his back whenever Wang Mang left the palace—before him on the way out and beside his carriage on the way in. The casting day brought bitter cold; men and horses among the assembled officials froze to death.
7
五年正月朔，北軍南門災。
On New Year's Day of the fifth year, fire struck the south gate of the Northern Army camp.
8
以大司馬司允費興為荊州牧，見，問到部方略，興對曰：「荊、揚之民率依阻山澤，以漁采為業。 間者，國張六管，稅山澤，妨奪民之利，連年久旱，百姓饑窮，故為盜賊。 興到部，欲令明曉告盜賊歸田裡，假貸犁牛種食，闊其租賦，幾可以解釋安集。」 莽怒，免興官。
He appointed Fei Xing, Supervisor to the Grand Marshal, as Governor of Jingzhou. When Xing was received in audience, Mang asked what strategy he would use upon reaching his jurisdiction. Xing replied, "The people of Jing and Yang mostly rely on mountains and marshes for protection and make their living by fishing and gathering. Lately the six monopolies had taxed every stream and hillside, choking off their livelihoods; years of drought had left them hungry—so they turned to banditry. Once in office, he said, he would urge the rebels home with clear proclamations, lend them plows, oxen, and seed, lighten rent and taxes, and thus win them back to peace." Wang Mang, incensed, removed him from office.
9
天下吏以不得奉祿，並為奸利，郡尹縣宰家累千金。 莽下詔曰：「詳考始建國二年胡虜猾夏以來，諸軍吏及緣邊吏大夫以上為奸利增產致富者，收其家所有財產五分之四，以助邊急。」 公府士馳傳天下，考覆貪饕，開吏告其將，奴婢告其主，幾以禁奸，奸愈甚。
With salaries unpaid, officials everywhere turned to graft, and many a magistrate's family amassed a fortune in gold. Mang issued an edict: "Carefully investigate the period since the second year of Establishing the State, when the Hu barbarians first ravaged Xia. For all army officials and border officials of grandee rank and above who pursued illicit profit, increased their holdings, and became wealthy, confiscate four-fifths of all property their households possess, to aid the emergency on the frontier." Couriers sped the order across the empire, encouraging subordinates to denounce superiors and slaves to denounce masters in the name of curbing greed—but corruption only spread faster.
10
皇孫功崇公宗坐自畫容貌，被服天子衣冠，刻印三：一曰「維祉冠存己夏處南山臧薄冰」，二曰「肅聖寶繼」，三曰「德封昌圖」。 又宗舅呂寬家前徙合浦，私與宗通，發覺按驗，宗自殺。 莽曰：「宗屬為皇孫，爵為上公，知寬等叛逆族類，而與交通； 刻銅印三，文意甚害，不知厭足，窺欲非望。 《春秋》之義，『君親毋將，將而誅焉。』 迷惑失道，自取此事，烏呼哀哉！ 宗本名會宗，以製作去二名，今復名會宗。 貶厥爵，改厥號，賜謚為功崇繆伯，以諸伯之禮葬於故同谷城郡。」 宗姊妨為衛將軍王興夫人，祝詛姑，殺婢以絕口。 事發覺，莽使中常侍鹊惲責問妨，并以責興，皆自殺。 事連及司命孔仁妻，亦自殺。 仁見莽免冠謝，莽使尚書劾仁：「乘『乾』車，駕『神』馬，左蒼龍，右白虎，前硃雀，後玄武，右杖威節，左負威鬥，號曰赤星，非以驕仁，乃以尊新室之威命也。 仁擅免天文冠，大不敬。」 有詔勿劾，更易新冠。 其好怪如此。
The imperial grandson Zong, Duke of Meritorious Exaltation, was convicted for painting his own likeness, wearing the Son of Heaven's robes and cap, and carving three seals. One read, "May blessing be bound to the cap; may oneself be preserved; may Xia dwell at South Mountain, storing thin ice." The second read, "Solemn sage, precious succession." The third read, "Virtue enfeoffed, prosperous chart." Zong had also been in secret contact with his exiled uncle Lü Kuan's family; when the link was uncovered and investigated, Zong took his own life. Mang said: "Zong's kindred is imperial grandson, rank is upper duke; he knew Kuan and others were rebellious traitor kindred, yet communicated with them; that the three bronze seals bore gravely seditious language; and that he had shown boundless ambition and designs beyond his station. The Spring and Autumn rule is categorical: one does not raise a hand against ruler or parent, and anyone who does must pay with his life. He had lost his way and brought this on himself—alas for the pity of it. His birth name had been Wang Huizong; Mang's naming reform had shortened it to Zong, but the full name Huizong was now restored for the record of his crime. His noble rank and title were stripped, he was posthumously styled the "Erring Earl" of Meritorious Exaltation, and buried with the rites due an earl in the old Tongu region." His sister Fang, wife of Guard General Wang Xing, had cursed her mother-in-law and murdered maids to silence witnesses. When this surfaced, Wang Mang sent the palace attendant Que Yun to interrogate Fang and rebuke Wang Xing; both committed suicide. The scandal drew in the wife of Director of Fate Kong Ren, who also killed herself. When Kong Ren appeared bareheaded to apologize, Wang Mang had the secretariat impeach him: the chariot emblems of the four spirits and the "Majesty" staff and dipper were tokens of the New House's mandate, not personal privileges for Kong Ren. Stripping off the ritual "astronomy" crown on his own was gross disrespect." An edict spared him prosecution and ordered only a replacement cap. Such was the strangeness of his regime.
11
以真道侯王涉為衛將軍。 涉者，曲陽侯根子也。 根，成帝世為大司馬，薦莽自代，莽恩之，以為曲陽非令稱，乃追謚根曰直道讓公，涉嗣其爵。
Wang She, Marquis of True Way, was appointed Guard General. He was the son of Wang Gen, Marquis of Quyang. Wang Gen had been Grand Marshal under Emperor Cheng and had recommended Wang Mang as his successor; grateful, Mang judged the Quyang title unworthy of him, posthumously dubbed him Duke of Straightforward Yielding, and let Wang She inherit the noble rank.
12
是歲，赤眉力子都、樊崇等以饑饉相聚，起於琅邪，轉抄掠，眾皆萬數。 遺使者發郡國兵擊之，不能克。
That year Lizi Du, Fan Chong, and others who would form the Red Eyebrows rallied in Langye from famine, swept onward in plunder, and numbered their followers in the tens of thousands. Imperial envoys called out provincial troops against them without success.
13
六年春，莽見盜賊多，乃令太史推三萬六千歲歷紀，六歲一改元，布天下。 下書曰：「《紫閣圖》曰『太一、黃帝皆仙上天，張樂崑崙虔山之上。 後世聖主得瑞者，當張樂秦終南山之上。』 予之不敏，奉行未明，乃今諭矣。 復以寧始將軍為更始將軍，以順符命。 《易》不云乎？ 『日新之謂盛德，生生之謂易。』 予其饗哉！」 欲以誑燿百姓，銷解盜賊。 眾皆笑之。
In the spring of the sixth year, alarmed by the scale of rebellion, he had the grand astrologer project a thirty-six-thousand-year calendar cycle and decreed a change of era name every six years, published throughout the realm. A proclamation cited the Purple Pavilion Chart: "The Grand Unity and the Yellow Emperor rose as immortals to heaven, making music on Mount Kunlun. A later sage who received heaven's omens would hold the same rites on Mount Zhongnan in Qin. Though I am dull, I have been slow to grasp this—until now the meaning is clear to me. The general of "Pacifying the Beginning" was renamed general of "Renewing the Beginning" to align with prophetic slogans. Does not the Book of Changes say? Renewal day by day is the height of virtue; unceasing generation is what we mean by change. May I share in that blessing!" He meant to dazzle the common people and talk the rebels into dispersing. Everyone laughed.
14
初獻《新樂》於明堂、太廟。 群臣始冠麟韋之弁。 或聞其樂聲，曰：「清厲而哀，非興國之聲也。」
The "New Music" was first performed at the Bright Hall and the imperial temple. For the occasion the ministers donned unicorn-hide caps for the first time. Some who heard its music sound said: "Clear, severe, and mournful—not a sound for raising a state."
15
是時，關東饑旱數年，力子都等黨眾浸多，更始將軍廉丹擊益州不能克，征還。 更遣復位後大司馬護軍郭興、庸部牧李曄擊蠻夷若豆等，太傅犧叔士孫喜清潔江湖之益賊。 而匈奴寇邊甚。 莽乃大募天下丁男及死罪囚、吏民奴，名曰「豬突豨勇」，以為銳卒。 一切稅天下吏民，訾三十取一，縑帛皆輸長安。 令公卿以下至郡縣黃綬皆保養軍馬，多少各以秩為差。 又博募有奇技術可以攻匈奴者，將待以不次之位。 言便宜者以萬數：或言能度水不用舟楫，連馬接騎，濟百萬師； 或言不持斗糧，服食藥物，三軍不饑； 或言能飛，一日千里，可窺匈奴。 莽輒試之，取大鳥翮為兩翼，頭與身皆著毛，通引環紐，飛數百步墮。 莽知其不可用，苟欲獲其名，皆拜為理軍，賜以車馬，待發。
East of the passes had suffered famine and drought for years; Lizi Du's following grew; General Lian Dan's campaign in Yizhou failed and he was recalled. Guo Xing, protector to the Grand Marshal, and Li Ye, pastor of Yongbu, were sent against the tribesmen led by Ruo Dou, while Grand Tutor Shisun Xi was tasked with clearing bandits from the river country. Meanwhile the Xiongnu were raiding the frontier with increasing ferocity. Wang Mang conscripted able-bodied men, condemned prisoners, and government slaves into units he called "hog-rush swine-braves" as crack troops. A flat assets tax of one-thirtieth was levied on every household, and all silk payments were shipped to Chang'an. Everyone from the highest ministers down to yellow-ribbon county officials had to keep warhorses in numbers fixed by rank. He also called for anyone with extraordinary skills against the Xiongnu, promising promotion out of turn. Thousands came forward: one claimant could march armies across rivers without boats by linking horses and riders; another offered pills that would feed whole armies without a grain of baggage; a third claimed he could fly a thousand li a day to spy on the steppe. Wang Mang had the "flier" strap on great wings of goose feathers and cords; he rose a few hundred paces and crashed. Knowing them useless but wanting the credit for patronizing talent, he ennobled them all as "regulators of the army," gave carriages and horses, and left them on standby.
16
初，匈奴右骨都侯須卜當，其妻王昭君女也，嘗內附。 莽遣昭君兄子和親侯王歙誘呼當至塞下，脅將詣長安，強立以為須卜善於後安公。 始欲誘迎當，大司馬嚴尤諫曰：「當在匈奴右部，兵不侵邊，單于動靜，輒語中國，此方面之大助也。 於今迎當置長安槁街，一胡人耳，不如在匈奴有益。」 莽不聽。 即得當，欲遣尤與廉丹擊匈奴，皆賜姓徵氏，號二徵將軍，當誅單于輿而立當代之。 出車城西橫廄，未發。 尤素有智略，非莽攻伐四夷，數諫不從，著古名將樂毅、白起不用之意及言邊事凡三篇，奏以風諫莽。 及當出廷議，尤固言匈奴可且以為後，先憂山東盜賊。 莽大怒，乃策尤曰：「視事四年，蠻夷猾夏不能遏絕，寇賊奸宄不能殄滅，不畏天威，不用詔命，貌很自臧，持必不移，懷執異心，非沮軍議。 未忍致於理，其上大司馬武建伯印□，歸故郡。」 以降符伯董忠為大司馬。
The Xiongnu noble Xubu Dang, whose wife was a daughter of Wang Zhaojun, had once favored accommodation with China. Wang Mang sent Wang Xi, Marquis of Peace-with-Kin and Zhaojun's nephew, to lure Xubu Dang to the frontier, march him under duress to Chang'an, and install him with a new title as Duke of Rear Peace. When Mang was about to lure Dang in and welcome him, Grand Marshal Yan You remonstrated: "Dang is in the Xiongnu right wing. Their troops do not invade the border, and he always reports the chanyu's movements to the Central States. This is a great aid on that front. Now if we welcome Dang and place him on Chang'an's Gao street, one Hu person ear—better not than in the Xiongnu being beneficial." Wang Mang refused to listen. After seizing Dang, he planned to send Yan You and Lian Dan against the Xiongnu, give them the surname Zheng as the "two Zheng generals," kill Chanyu Yu, and set Dang on the throne. The expedition mustered at the royal stables west of the city but never marched. Yan You, a strategist by reputation, had long opposed Wang Mang's foreign wars; ignored, he composed three essays on famous generals whose advice went unused and on frontier policy, submitting them as veiled remonstrance. At court debate on the campaign Yan You insisted the Xiongnu could wait while the rebellion east of the passes was the urgent peril. Mang was furious and thereupon issued a written rebuke to You: "For four years you have held office, yet you have been unable to stop and sever the barbarians' ravaging of Xia or to exterminate raiders and traitors. You do not fear Heaven's majesty, do not follow edict commands, and with a stubborn expression conceal yourself. You hold firmly to your view and will not change, harboring a different heart and obstructing military deliberations. Not yet bearing to bring to judgment, submit up the grand marshal Wu Jian earl's seal □, return to former commandery." Dong Zhong, Earl of Descending Tally, was named Grand Marshal in his place.
17
翼平連率田況奏郡縣訾民不實，莽復三十稅一。 以況忠言憂國，進爵為伯，賜錢二百萬。 眾庶皆詈之。 青、徐民多棄鄉里流亡，老弱死道路，壯者入賊中。
Tian Kuang, regional commander of Yiping, reported systematic underassessment of taxable wealth; Wang Mang reimposed the one-thirtieth property levy. For his loyal concern for the state Tian Kuang was promoted to earl and given two million cash. The common people cursed him for it. Across Qingzhou and Xuzhou multitudes fled their villages; the elderly and weak perished by the wayside while able-bodied men joined the rebel hosts.
18
夙夜連率韓博上言：「有奇士，長丈，大十圍，來至臣府，曰欲奮擊胡虜。 自謂巨毋霸，出於蓬萊東南，五城西北昭如海瀕，軺車不能載，三馬不能勝。 即日以大車四馬，建虎旗，載霸詣闕。 霸臥則枕鼓，以鐵箸食，此皇天所以輔新室也。 願陛下作大甲高車，賁、育之衣，遣大將一人與虎賁百人迎之於道。 京師門戶不容者，開高大之，以視百蠻，鎮安天下。」 博意欲以風莽。 莽聞惡之，留霸在所新豐，更其姓曰巨母氏，謂因文母太后而霸王符也。 征博下獄，以非所宜言，棄市。
Han Bo, Joint Commander of Suye, submitted a memorial: "There is an extraordinary man, one zhang tall and ten spans around, who has come to your servant's office saying that he wishes to strike fiercely at the Hu barbarians. He gave his name as Ju Wuba, said he hailed from the coast near Penglai, and was too massive for an ordinary car or team of three horses to bear. The same day he was loaded into a heavy wagon drawn by four horses, with a tiger banner raised, and escorted to the palace. He slept with his head on a war drum and ate with iron chopsticks; Han Bo styled this a sign that Heaven was reinforcing the Xin dynasty. He asked for oversized armor and chariots, the trappings of legendary warriors, and a senior general with a hundred picked guards to receive the giant in state. Where the capital's gates and doors cannot admit him, open them wider and make them higher, to display him to the hundred barbarians and pacify all under heaven." Han Bo meant the memorial as a veiled rebuke of Wang Mang. Wang Mang, furious, kept the giant at Xinfeng, rechristened his clan Ju Mu, and spun a prophecy tying the name to the empress dowager and dynastic talismans. He had Han Bo arrested for improper speech and executed in the marketplace.
19
明年改元曰：地皇，从三萬六千歲歷號也。
The next year he changed the era title to read Earth Sovereign (Di Huang), following the thirty-six-thousand-year calendar designation.
20
地皇元年正月乙未，赦天下。 下書曰：「方出軍行師，敢有趨言襄犯法者，輒論斬，毋須時，盡歲止。」 於是春夏斬人都市，百姓震懼，道路以目。
On the yiwei day of the first month of Earth Sovereign 1 he issued a general amnesty. He issued a document: "When armies are being sent out on campaign, anyone who dares spread alarming or slanderous talk in violation of the law shall be beheaded at once, without waiting for the proper execution season. This shall remain in effect until the end of the year." Through spring and summer heads rolled daily in the capital markets; people were terrorized into silence, communicating only with glances.
21
二月壬申，日正黑。 莽惡之，下書曰：「乃者日中見昧，陰薄陽，黑氣為變，百姓莫不驚怪。 兆域大將軍王匡遣吏考問上變事者，欲蔽上之明，是以適見於天，以正於理，塞大異焉。」
On renshen in the second month the sun went black at noon. Mang hated this and issued a document: "Recently a dimness was seen at midday; yin pressed against yang, and black vapor produced an anomaly. All the people were startled and amazed. Grand General of the Border Region Wang Kuang sent officials to interrogate those who reported the anomaly, wishing to obscure the clarity above. Therefore it fittingly appeared in Heaven, so as to correct the principle and block the great anomaly."
22
莽見四方盜賊多，復欲厭之，又下書曰：「予之皇初祖考黃帝定天下，將兵為上將軍，建華蓋，立斗獻，內設大將，外置大司馬五人，大將軍二十五人，偏將軍百二十五人，裨將軍千二百五十人，校尉萬二千五百人，司馬三萬七千五百人，候十一萬二千五百人，當百二十二萬五千人，士吏四十五萬人，士千三百五十萬人，應協於《易》『孤矢之利，以威天下』。 予受符命之文，稽前人，將條備焉。」 於是置前後左右中大司馬之位，賜諸州牧號為大將軍，郡卒正、連帥、大尹為偏將軍，屬令長裨將軍，縣宰為校尉。 乘傳使者經歷郡國，日且十輩，倉無見谷以給，傳車馬不能足，賦取道中車馬，取辦於民。
Seeing bandits rising in every quarter, Wang Mang again tried to suppress them by symbolic means and issued another order: "My august first ancestor, the Yellow Emperor, pacified all under heaven. In commanding troops he served as Supreme General, raised the flowered canopy, and set up the Dipper Handle. Within he established Grand Generals; without he appointed five Grand Marshals, twenty-five Commanders-in-Chief, 125 assistant generals, 1,250 subordinate generals, 12,500 commandants, 37,500 sima officers, and 112,500 scouts, corresponding to 1,225,000 men; there were 450,000 officers and 13,500,000 soldiers. This accords with the Changes: 'The benefit of bow and arrow is to awe all under heaven.' I received the text of the tally-mandate, examined those before me, and will set out and complete the roster." He then created five grand marshals for the center and quarters, renamed every regional pastor "great general," and cascaded new military titles down through commandery and county officials. Express riders—nearly ten parties a day—outran the granaries and relay stations, so teams were impressed from the highways and the cost was squeezed from the populace.
23
七月，大風毀王路堂。 復下書曰：「乃壬午餔時，有列風雷雨發屋折木之變，予甚弁焉，予甚栗焉，予甚恐焉。 伏念一旬，迷乃解矣。 昔符命文立安為新遷王，臨國雒陽，為統義陽王。 是時予在攝假，謙不敢當，而以為公。 其後金匱文至，議老皆曰：『臨國雒陽為統，謂據土中為新室統也，宜為皇太子。』 自此後，臨久病，雖瘳不平，朝見挈茵輿行。 見王路堂者，張於西廂及後閣更衣中，又以皇后被疾，臨且去本就捨，妃妾在東永巷。 壬午，烈風毀王路西廂及後閣更衣中室。 昭寧堂池東南榆樹大十圍，東僵，擊東閣，閣即東永巷之西垣也。 皆破折瓦壞，發屋拔木，予甚驚焉。 又侯官奏月犯心前星，厥有占，予甚憂之。 優念《紫閣圖》文，太一、黃帝皆得瑞以仙，後世褒主當登終南山。 所謂新遷王者，乃太一新遷之後也。 統義陽王乃用五統以禮義登陽上千之後也。 臨有兄而稱太子，名不正。 宣尼公曰：『名不正，則言不順，至於刑罰不中，民無錯手足。』 惟即位以來，陰陽未和，風雨不時，數遇枯旱蝗螟為災，谷稼鮮耗，百姓苦饑，蠻夷猾夏，寇賊奸宄，人民正營，無所錯手足。 深惟厥咎，在名不正焉。 其立安為新遷王，臨為統義陽正，幾以保全二子，子孫千億，外攘四夷，內安中國焉。」
In the seventh month a gale wrecked the Kingly Road Hall. He again issued a document: "At the late-meal hour on renwu, there occurred an anomaly of driving wind, thunder, and rain that lifted roofs and broke trees. I am deeply disturbed, deeply shaken, and deeply afraid. After ten days of brooding he claimed to have grasped heaven's message. Prophetic texts had named his son Wang An as King of Xin Qian and Wang Lin as King of Unifying Righteous Yang with his seat at Luoyang. At the time he was only regent and had demurred, accepting lesser ducal titles instead. Later, when the metal-casket prophecy appeared, his advisers read it as mandating Wang Lin at Luoyang as heir apparent to the New dynasty. Thereafter Wang Lin remained chronically unwell; even when somewhat recovered he was carried in a felt litter to audience. He linked the storm to Wang Lin's quarters in the west wing and changing rooms of the Kingly Road Hall, and to the empress's illness, noting that concubines were lodged in the eastern "eternal lane. On renshen a violent wind smashed the west annex and inner dressing chamber of the Kingly Road Hall. A massive elm southeast of the Zhaoning Hall pool toppled eastward into the east pavilion—the wall that bordered the eastern harem lane. Tiles shattered, roofs flew, and trees were uprooted; he professed shock at the destruction. Observers further reported a lunar occultation of the front star in the Heart mansion—a traditionally dire omen that deepened his anxiety. He turned again to the Purple Pavilion Chart, which tied imperial sages to omens, immortality, and an ascent of Mount Zhongnan. The title King of Xin Qian, he argued, referred to a line descended from the Grand Unity after the "Xin removal. The King of Unifying Righteous Yang, he said, embodied the five "unifications" and the ascent of righteous yang in the cosmic scheme. Wang Lin had elder brothers yet bore the title crown prince—an irregularity of rank. He quoted Confucius: without correct naming, discourse fails, justice goes awry, and the people stand helpless. Since his accession, he said, heaven had withheld harmony—drought, locusts, famine, barbarian raids, and banditry had left the people paralyzed with fear. He concluded that misrule sprang from this single flaw in titles. He therefore named Wang An King of Xin Qian, demoted Wang Lin to "rectifier" of Unifying Righteous Yang—purportedly to save both sons, secure endless descendants, repel foreigners, and pacify the interior."
24
是月，杜陵便殿乘輿虎文衣廢臧在室匣中者出，自樹立外堂上，良久乃委地。 吏卒見者以聞，莽惡之，下書曰：「寶黃廝赤，其令郎從官皆衣絳。」
That month tiger-skin robes from the imperial wardrobe at Duling's side hall burst from their chest and stood upright in the outer hall before collapsing—another uncanny sign. When clerks reported the omen, Wang Mang was displeased and issued an edict: "Treasure yellow menial is red; let all palace attendants wear crimson robes."
25
望氣為數者多言有士功象，莽又見四方盜賊多，欲視為自安能建萬世之基者，乃下書曰：「予受命遭陽九之厄，百六之會，府帑空虛，百姓匱乏，宗廟未修，且袷祭於明堂太廟，夙夜永念，非敢寧息。 深惟吉昌莫良於今年，予乃卜波水之北，郎池之南，惟玉食。 予又卜金水之南，明堂之西，亦惟玉食。 予將新築焉。」 於是遂營長安城南，提封百頃。 九月甲申，莽立載行視，親舉築三下。 司徒王尋、大司空王邑持節，及侍中常侍執法杜林等數十人將作。 崔發、張邯說莽曰：「德盛者文縟，宜崇其制度，宣視海內，且令萬世之後無以復加也。」 莽乃博征天下工匠諸圖畫，以望法度算，乃吏民以義入錢、谷助作者，駱驛道路。 壞徹城西苑中建章、承光、包陽、犬台、儲元宮及平樂、當路、陽祿館，凡十餘所，取其材瓦，以起九廟。 是月，大雨六十餘日。 令民入米六百斛為郎，其郎吏增秩賜爵至附城。 九廟：一曰黃帝太初祖廟，二曰帝虞始祖昭廟，三曰陳胡王統祖穆廟，四曰齊敬王世祖昭廟，五曰濟北愍王王祖穆廟，凡五廟不墮雲； 六曰濟南伯王尊檷昭廟，七曰元城孺王尊稱穆廟，八曰陽平頃王戚檷昭廟，九曰新都顯王戚檷穆廟。 殿皆重屋。 太初祖廟東西南北各四十丈，高十七丈，余廟半之。 為銅薄櫨，飾以金銀雕文，窮極百工之巧。 帶高增下，功費數百巨萬，卒徒死者萬數。
Court astrologers foretold major construction; with rebels still swarming, Wang Mang proclaimed his mandate beset by cosmic "yang nine" calamity and empty treasuries, yet insisted on joint sacrifice at the Bright Hall while planning a capital project to secure eternity. He cast yarrow stalks: north of the Bo River and south of Lang Pool the omens promised "jade food"—an auspicious site. A second divination favored a tract south of the Jin River and west of the Bright Hall. He resolved to found a new ritual city on the chosen ground." Work therefore began south of Chang'an on a hundred qing of enclosed land. On jiashen in the ninth month Wang Mang rode an inspection screen-chariot, viewed the site, and symbolically rammed the earth three times. Wang Xun and Wang Ya, bearing imperial credentials, supervised the project alongside dozens of officials including Du Lin. Cui Fa and Zhang Han persuaded Mang: "Where virtue is abundant, its forms should be elaborate. You should exalt its institutions and standards, display them throughout the realm, and ensure that even after ten thousand generations nothing can be added to them." He conscripted craftsmen and surveyors empire-wide, and welcomed voluntary donations of cash and grain from officials and commoners; convoys jammed the roads. To supply materials he razed more than ten pleasure palaces and lodges in the western park, stripping their timber and tile for the nine ancestral shrines. That month the rains continued for over sixty days. He sold palace gentleman appointments for six hundred hu of grain, with promotion and noble rank up to "attached-to-walls" for contributing clerks. The nine shrines began with the Yellow Emperor as Grand Beginning forebear, then Shun, then the Chen Hu lineage, the Qi kings, and the Ji-north house—five main lines said never to be abolished; followed by Jinan, Yuancheng, Yangping, and Xindu branches, each with paired "zhao" and "mu" halls in the canonical pattern. Every hall was built to two stories. The chief shrine measured forty zhang on a side and seventeen zhang high; the others were half that size. Bronze lattice and bracketing were overlaid with chased gold and silver in the utmost display of craft. Cutting hills and filling valleys, the project cost billions in cash and killed tens of thousands of laborers.
26
巨鹿男子馬適求等謀舉燕、趙兵以誅莽，大司空士王丹發覺以聞。 莽遣三公大夫逮治黨與，連及郡國豪傑數千人，皆誅死。 封丹為輔國侯。
Ma Shi Qiu of Julu conspired to mobilize Yan and Zhao against Wang Mang until a clerk of the minister of works, Wang Dan, exposed the plot. Wang Mang sent senior investigators to round up thousands of gentry accomplices across the provinces and had them executed. Wang Dan was ennobled as Marquis Who Aids the State.
27
自莽為不順時令，百姓怨恨，莽猶安之，又下書曰：「惟設此一切之法以來，常安六鄉巨邑之都，枹鼓稀鳴，盜賊衰少，百姓安土，歲以有年，此乃立權之力也。 今胡虜未滅誅，蠻僰未絕焚，江湖海澤麻沸，盜賊未盡破殄，又興奉宗廟社稷之大作，民眾動搖。 今夏一切行此令，盡二年止之，以全元元，救愚奸。」
Though the people cursed his defiance of nature's seasons, Wang Mang insisted that his emergency decrees had kept Chang'an quiet and brought good harvests—the "power of expediency. Yet the Xiongnu and southern tribes still burned, the empire seethed like boiling hemp, rebels remained unbeaten, and he was launching the giant temple works—the populace was thrown into turmoil. He therefore suspended the harshest decrees for two summers only, claiming this respite would protect the common folk from their own desperation."
28
是歲，罷大小錢，更行貨布，長二寸五分，廣一寸，真貨錢二十五。 貨錢徑一寸，重五銖，枚直一。 兩品並行。 敢盜鑄錢及偏行布貨，伍人知不發舉，皆沒入為官奴婢。
The same year he abolished the old coinage and introduced the "goods cloth" spade coin, two and a half cun long and one cun wide, rated at twenty-five small cash. The round "goods cash" weighed five zhu, one cun in diameter, and passed for one unit. The two denominations circulated together. Private minting or using only one of the paired coins became a capital crime; households that failed to inform on neighbors were enslaved.
29
太傅平晏死，以予虞唐尊為太傅。 尊曰：「國虛民貧，咎在奢泰。」 乃身短衣小袖，乘牝馬柴車，藉槁，瓦器，又以歷遺公卿。 出見男女不異路者，尊自下車，以象刑赭幡污染其衣。 莽聞而說之，下詔申敕公卿思與厥齊。 封尊為平化侯。
Grand Tutor Ping Yan died, and Tang Zun was named to succeed him. Zun said: "The state is empty and the people poor; the fault lies in extravagance and excess." He adopted short sleeves, rode a mare in a plain cart, used straw mats and pottery, and sent frugal calendars to the high ministers as a model. When he saw men and women walking the same side of the road he dismounted and daubed their clothes with a red "symbolic punishment" banner—his notion of moral policing. Wang Mang approved and ordered the three excellencies to imitate his austerity. Tang Zun was ennobled as Marquis of Level Transformation.
30
是時，南郡張霸、江夏羊牧、王匡等起雲杜綠林，號曰「下江兵」，眾皆萬餘人。 武功中水鄉民三捨墊為池。
Meanwhile Zhang Ba of Nan commandery, Yang Mu, Wang Kuang of Jiangxia, and others rose in the Green Woods marshes of Yundu, calling their force the "Lower Yang army," each host over ten thousand strong. In Zhongshui township of Wugong the ground subsided so that three farmsteads sank into a pool.
31
二年正月，以州牧位三公，刺舉怠解，更置牧監副，秩元士，冠法冠，行事如漢刺史。
In the first month of the second year he equated regional pastors with the three dukes, then added supervisor-deputies with law caps to audit them like Former Han inspectors.
32
是月，莽候妻死，謚曰：「孝睦皇后」，莽渭陵長壽園西，令永侍文母，名陵曰「億年」。 初莽妻以莽數殺其子，涕泣失明，莽令太子臨居中養焉。 莽妻旁侍者原碧，莽幸之。 後臨亦通焉，恐事洩，謀共殺莽。 臨妻愔，國師公女，能為星，語臨宮中且有白衣會。 臨喜，以為所謀且成。 後貶為統義陽正，出在外第，愈憂恐。 會莽妻病困，臨予書曰：「上於子孫至嚴，前長孫、中孫年俱三十而死。 今臣臨復適三十，誠恐一旦不保中室，則不知死命所在！」 莽妻疾，見其書，大怒，疑臨有惡意，不令得會喪。 既莽，收原碧等考問，具服奸、謀殺狀。 莽欲秘之，使殺案事使者司命從事，埋獄中，家不知所在。 賜臨藥，臨不肯飲，自刺死。 使侍中票騎將軍同說侯林賜魂衣璽□，策書曰：「符命文立臨為統義陽王，此言新室即位三萬六千歲後，為臨之後者乃當龍陽而起。 前過聽議者，以臨為太子，有烈風之變，輒順符命，立為統義陽正。 在此之前，自此之後，不作信順，弗蒙厥佑，夭年隕命，嗚呼哀哉！ 跡行賜謚，謚曰：『繆王』。」 又詔國師公：「臨本不知星，事從愔起。」 愔亦自殺。
That month, Mang's wife, the marchioness, died. Her posthumous title was "Empress of Filial Harmony." Mang buried her west of Changshou Park at Weiling, ordering that she eternally attend on the Literary Mother, and named the tomb "One Hundred Million Years." The empress had wept herself blind after Wang Mang executed several of their sons; he had Crown Prince Wang Lin move in to nurse her. A maid of the empress named Yuan Bi became Wang Mang's mistress. Wang Lin also took her as lover; fearing exposure, he and Yuan Bi plotted to murder Wang Mang. Lin's wife Yin, daughter of Liu Xin the state master, read the stars and warned of a funeral—an assembly in white—within the palace. Wang Lin welcomed the omen as proof their plot would succeed. After his demotion to "rectifier" and removal to an outer residence, he grew only more afraid. When Mang's wife was gravely ill, Lin sent her a letter saying, "The one above is extremely severe toward his sons and grandsons. Earlier, the eldest grandson and middle grandson both died at the age of thirty. Now your servant Lin is again just reaching thirty. I truly fear that if one day I cannot protect the inner chamber, I will not know where the mandate of death may fall!" The empress read the letter, flew into a rage, suspected malice, and barred Wang Lin from her deathbed rites. Once the empress was buried, Wang Mang arrested Yuan Bi and her accomplices; under interrogation they confessed to the affair and the plot to kill him. To hush it up he had the investigating envoy from the Director of Fate murdered and buried in the prison yard; the man's family never learned his fate. He sent poison to Wang Lin, who refused it and fell on his sword. He then had a chamberlain present burial robes and a sealed edict declaring that prophecy had named Wang Lin king of Unifying Righteous Yang and that a "dragon yang" heir would arise thirty-six thousand years hence. He admitted he had rashly named Lin crown prince until the great wind omen forced him to demote the prince to "rectifier. Before and after, Wang Lin had not kept faith with heaven; he forfeited its favor and died young—Wang Mang's proclamation ended in ritual lament. Reviewing his conduct, the court gave him the posthumous title "Erring King." Again issued an edict the state master: "Lin originally did not know stars; the affair began from Yin." Yin also killed herself.
33
是月，新遷王安病死。 初，葬為侯就國實，幸侍者增秩、懷能、開明。 懷能生男興，增秩生男匡、女曄，開明生女捷，皆留新都國，以其不明故也。 及安疾甚，莽自病無子，為安作奏，使上言：「興等母雖微賤，屬猶皇子，不可以棄。」 章視群公，皆曰：「安友于兄弟，宜及春夏加封爵。」 於是以王車遣使者迎興等，封興為功脩任，匡為功建公，曄為睦脩任，捷為睦逮任。 孫公明公壽病死，旬月四喪焉。 莽壞漢孝武、孝昭廟，分葬子孫其中。
That same month Wang An, King of Xin Qian, died of natural causes. Long before he took the throne, Wang Mang had gone to his fief in earnest as a marquis and taken as lovers the maids Zengzhi, Huaineng, and Kaiming. They bore his illegitimate children—Xing, Kuang, Ye, and Jie—who were kept at Xindu while their father's identity stayed discreet. When An became gravely ill, Mang was himself troubled that he had no sons. He drafted a memorial for An and had him submit it, saying, "Though the mothers of Xing and the others are humble, the boys are still imperial sons by kinship and cannot be cast aside." He showed the memorial to the assembled dukes, and all said, "An is brotherly toward his siblings; it would be fitting to add rank and title in spring or summer." Imperial carriages brought the children to court, where Wang Mang ennobled each with one of his ornate Xin-dynasty titles. Then Wang Shou, son of the Duke of Brilliance, died too—four deaths in little more than a month. He demolished the temples of Emperors Wu and Zhao of Han and reparceled their sacred precincts for his own family tombs.
34
魏成大尹李焉與卜者王況謀，況謂焉曰：「新室即位以來，民田奴婢不得賣買，數改錢貨，徵發煩數，軍旅騷動，四夷並侵，百姓怨恨，盜賊並起，漢家當復興。 君姓李，李音徵，徵火也，當為漢輔。」 因為焉作讖書，言「文帝發忿，居地下趣軍，北告匈奴，南告越人。 江中劉信，執敵報怨，復續古先，四年當發軍。 江湖有盜，自稱樊王，姓為劉氏，萬人成行，不受赦令，欲動秦、雒陽。 十一年當相攻，太白揚光，歲星入東井，其號當行。」 又言莽大臣吉凶，各有日期。 會合十餘萬言。 焉令吏寫其書，吏亡告之。 莽遣使者即捕焉，獄治皆死。
Li Yan, grand administrator of Wei commandery, conspired with the diviner Wang Kuang, who told him, "Since the New House acceded, commoners' fields and slaves could not be bought or sold, coinage was repeatedly changed, levies and mobilizations were frequent, armies and hosts were in turmoil, the four barbarians all invaded, the hundred surnames resented, bandits and robbers all rose—Han should revive. Because your surname is Li—and Li sounds like the fire element of the Liu clan—you are destined to aid Han's restoration." He then forged a prophecy for Yan declaring that "Emperor Wen grew angry, dwells underground urging armies, north informing the Xiongnu, south informing the Yue people. A Liu Xin on the Yangzi would avenge the dynasty and restore the ancient order; armies would rise in the fourth year. River bandits would proclaim a Liu surnamed Fan as king, field ten thousand men in ranks, defy amnesties, and threaten Qin and Luoyang. In the eleventh year they would clash; when Venus blazed and Jupiter entered the Eastern Well lodge, the Liu mandate would prevail." The book also dated the fates of Wang Mang's ministers. The whole compilation ran to more than a hundred thousand words. Yan had a clerk copy the text, but the clerk fled and informed on him. Wang Mang sent agents to seize Yan; all involved were executed after trial.
35
三輔盜賊麻起，乃置捕盜都尉官，令執法謁者追擊長安中，建鳴鼓攻賊幡，而使者隨其後。 遣太師犧仲景尚、更始將軍護軍王黨將兵擊青、徐，國師和仲曹放助郭興擊句町。 轉天下穀、幣詣西河、五原、朔方、漁陽，每一郡以百萬數，欲以擊匈奴。
As the capital region filled with rebels, he created a special anti-bandit command, sent law officers to hunt through Chang'an behind drums and "strike the bandits" banners, with inspectors trailing each squad. He sent Jing Shang and Wang Dang east against Qing and Xu while Cao Fang aided Guo Xing on the Gouding front in the south. He diverted grain and treasure by the millions of piculs into the northern commanderies, stockpiling for another Xiongnu campaign.
36
秋，隕霜殺菽，關東大饑，蝗。
That autumn a killing frost ruined the bean crop; east of the passes came famine and locust swarms.
37
民犯鑄錢，伍人相坐，沒入為官奴婢。 其男子檻車，兒女子步，以鐵鎖琅當其頸，傳詣鐘官，以十萬數。 到者易其夫婦，愁苦死者什六七。 孫喜、景尚、曹放等擊賊不能克，軍師放縱，百姓重困。
Minting violations still triggered collective punishment: whole neighborhood units were seized as government slaves. Men rode in prison wagons, women and children stumbled on foot, necks locked in iron—hundreds of thousands marched to the imperial mint compound. Arrival meant forced separation and reassignment of spouses; six or seven out of ten died of despair. Sun Xi, Jing Shang, and Cao Fang failed to crush the rebels while their troops ran wild, doubling the people's misery.
38
莽以王況讖言刑楚當興，李氏為輔，欲厭之。 乃拜侍中掌牧大夫李棽為大將軍、揚州牧，賜名聖，使將兵奮擊。
A prophecy naming Jing-Chu revolt and a Li house as helpers alarmed Wang Mang into counter-magic. He named Li Shen great general and shepherd of Yangzhou, rechristened him Li Sheng, and sent him south at the head of an army.
39
上谷儲夏自請願說瓜田儀，莽以為中郎，使出儀。 儀文降，未出而死。 莽求其屍葬之，為起塚、詞室，謚曰「瓜寧殤男」，幾以招來其餘，然無肯降者。
Chu Xia of Shanggu offered to talk Guatian Yi into submission; Wang Mang made him a palace gentleman and sent him to the rebel camp. Guatian Yi pledged surrender in writing but died before he could emerge to yield. Mang sought out his corpse and buried it, raising a mound and memorial chamber for him and giving him the posthumous title "Guining, the Young Deceased." He hoped by this to lure in the others, but none were willing to surrender.
40
閏月丙辰，大赦天下，天下大服、民私服在詔書前亦釋除。
On bingchen in the intercalary month he proclaimed a general amnesty that also lifted mourning obligations predating the decree.
41
郎陽成脩獻符命，言繼立民母，又曰：「黃帝以百二十女致神仙。」 葬於是遣中散大夫、謁者各四十五人分行天下，博采鄉里所高有淑女者上名。
Gentleman Yangcheng Xiu presented a mandate-token, speaking of establishing a new mother of the people, and also said, "The Yellow Emperor attained immortality through one hundred twenty women." Wang Mang then sent ninety teams across the empire to register every "virtuous maiden" local elites would name.
42
莽夢長樂宮銅人五枚起立，莽惡之，念銅人銘有「皇帝初兼天下」之文，即使尚方工鐫滅所夢銅人膺文。 又感漢高廟神靈，遣虎賁武士入高廟，拔劍四面提擊，斧壞戶牖，桃湯赭鞭鞭灑屋壁，令輕車校尉居其中，又令中軍北壘居高寢。
He dreamed the Han bronze statues in Changle Palace rising; unnerved, he had the inscription "The emperor first united the realm" ground off their chests. He sent picked warriors to hack at Gaozu's shrine, smash its doors, scour the walls with peach-sprinkling and ritual flogging, and billet officers inside to "suppress" the Han founder's ghost.
43
或言黃帝時建華蓋以登仙，莽乃造華蓋九重，高八丈一尺，金瑵羽葆，載以秘機四輪車，駕六馬，力士三百人黃衣幘，車上人擊鼓，挽者皆呼「登仙」。 莽出，令在前。 百官竊言「此似狈車，非僊物也。」
Some said that in the Yellow Emperor’s time he had built a flowered canopy to ascend as an immortal, so Wang Mang made a nine-tiered flowered canopy, eight zhang and one chi high, with golden fittings and feathered ornaments. It was carried on a secret-mechanism four-wheeled cart, harnessed to six horses, with three hundred strongmen in yellow clothes and turbans; a man on the cart beat a drum, and all those hauling it shouted, "Ascending to immortality!" Whenever Wang Mang left the palace, the monstrous canopy went before him. Officials whispered among themselves, "That looks like a funeral cart, not some immortal conveyance."
44
是歲，南郡秦豐眾且萬人。 平原女子遲昭平能說博經以八投，亦聚數千人在河阻中。 莽召問群臣禽賊方略，皆曰：「此天囚行屍，命在漏刻。」 故左將軍公孫祿征來與議，祿曰：「太史令宗宣典星歷，候氣變。 以凶為吉，亂天文，誤朝廷。 太傅平化侯飾虛偽以偷名位，『賊夫人之子』。 國師嘉信公顛倒《五經》，毀師法，令學士疑惑。 明學男張邯、地理侯孫陽造井田，使民棄土業。 犧和魯匡設六管，以窮工商。 說符侯崔發阿諛取容，令下情不上通。 宜誅此數子以慰天下！」 又言：「匈奴不可攻，當與和親。 臣恐新室憂不在匈奴，而在封域之中也。」 莽怒，使虎賁扶祿出。 然頗采其言，左遷魯匡為五原卒正，以百姓怨非故。 六管非匡所獨造，莽厭眾意而出之。
In Nan commandery Qin Feng gathered nearly ten thousand followers. Chi Zhaoping of Pingyuan, who lectured on the classics with divination counters, rallied thousands in the river marshes. Mang summoned the assembled ministers and asked them for a strategy to capture the bandits. They all said, "These are Heaven's prisoners, walking corpses; their fate will be decided within a few drops of the water clock." The former Left General Gongsun Lu was therefore summoned to join the discussion. Lu said, "Zong Xuan, Director of the Grand Scribes, is in charge of the stars and calendar and observes changes in the qi. Zong Xuan, he charged, called calamity good fortune and falsified the skies. Tang Zun's austerity was a sham that corrupted the young, in Confucius's sense of ruining others' sons. Liu Xin had rewritten the Five Classics and left students adrift. Zhang Han and Sun Yang had forced the well-field system and driven farmers from their plots. Lu Kuang's six monopolies had beggared craftsmen and traders. Cui Fa's flattery had blocked honest reports from reaching the throne. Execute this whole clique, he cried, to set the empire right!" He also said: "The Xiongnu cannot be attacked; one ought to make peace and kinship. Your servant fears the New House's worry is not in the Xiongnu but within the bounded domain." Wang Mang, furious, had guards march Gongsun Lu from the hall. Still he demoted Lu Kuang to a minor post in Wuyuan to appease popular hatred. The monopolies were not Lu Kuang's alone, but Wang Mang sacrificed him to quiet the mob.
45
初，四方皆以饑寒窮愁起為盜賊，稍稍群聚，常思歲熟得歸鄉里。 眾雖萬數，但稱臣人、從事、三老、祭酒，不敢略有城邑，轉掠求食，日闋而已。 諸長吏牧守皆自亂鬥中兵而死，賊非敢欲殺之也，而莽終不諭其故。 是歲，大司馬士按章豫州，為賊所獲，賊送付縣。 士還，上書具言狀。 莽大怒，下獄以為誣罔。 因下書責七公曰：「夫吏者，理也。 宣德明恩，以牧養民，仁之道也。 抑強督奸，捕誅盜賊，義之節也。 今則不然。 盜發不輒得，至成群黨，遮略乘傳宰士。 士得脫者，又妄自言：我責數賊：『何故為是？』 賊曰：『以貧窮故耳。』 賊護出我。 今俗人議者率多若此。 惟貧困饑寒，犯法為非，大者群盜，小者偷穴，不過二科，今乃結謀連常以千百數，是逆亂之大者，豈饑寒之謂邪？ 七公其嚴敕卿大夫、卒正、連率、庶尹，謹牧養善民，急捕殄盜賊。 有不同心並力，疾惡黜賊，而妄曰饑寒所為，輒捕系，請其罪。」 於是群下愈恐，莫敢言賊情者，亦不得擅發兵，賊由是遂不制。
Rebels had first risen from cold and hunger, banding together in hope of going home after a good harvest. Even tens of thousands used modest titles, avoided storming cities, and lived by day-to-day pillage. Local officials perished in confused skirmishes, not because the rebels sought their heads—yet Wang Mang never grasped why. A Grand Marshal investigator sent to Yuzhou was seized by rebels and handed over to a county magistrate. The man escaped and memorialized the truth. Wang Mang threw him in prison for lying. Thereupon issued a document reproaching the seven dukes, saying: "Clerks are those who order. They should teach kindness and care for the people—that is benevolent rule. They should curb bullies and hunt bandits—that is duty. Yet now they did none of this. Rebels went uncaught until they could ambush imperial couriers. Survivors boasted that they had demanded of captors, "Why do you rebel?" The answer came back: "Because we are poor. Then the bandits let the official go. Wang Mang complained that such foolish talk was everywhere. He refused to believe famine drove rebellion: petty theft differed from organized revolt by thousands—this was treason, not hunger. He ordered the seven ministers to press every subordinate to nurture the good and exterminate rebels. If there are those who do not join hearts and combine strength to hate evil and expel bandits, but recklessly say that this was caused by hunger and cold, immediately arrest and bind them and request punishment for their crimes." Officials fell silent and dared not mobilize local forces; the insurgents ran wild.
46
唯翼平連率田況素果敢，發民年十八以上四萬餘人，授以庫兵，與刻石為約。 赤糜聞之，不敢入界。 況自劾奏，莽讓況：「未賜慮符而擅發兵，此弄兵也。 厥罪乏興。 以況自詭必禽滅賊，故且勿治。」 後況自請出界擊賊，所向皆破。 莽以璽書令況領青、徐二州牧事。 況上言：「盜賊始發，其原甚微，非部吏、伍人所能禽也。 咎在長吏不為意，縣欺其郡，郡欺朝廷，實百言十，實千言百。 朝廷忽略，不輒督責，遂至延曼連州，乃遣將率，多發使者，傳相監趣。 郡縣力事上官，應寒詰對，共酒食，具資用，以救斷斬，不給復憂盜賊治官事。 將率又不能躬率吏士，戰則為賊所破，吏氣浸傷，徒費百姓。 前幸蒙赦令，賊欲解散，或反遮擊，恐入山谷轉相告語，故郡縣降賊，皆更驚駭，恐見詐滅，因饑饉易動，旬日之間更十餘萬人，此盜賊所以多之故也。 今雒陽以東，米石二千。 竊見詔書，欲遣太師、更始將軍，二人爪牙重臣，多從人眾，道上空竭，少則亡以威視遠方。 宜急選牧、尹以下，明其賞罰。 收合離鄉、小國無城郭者，徙其老弱置大城中，積藏谷食，並力固守。 賊來攻城，則不能下，所過無食，勢不得群聚。 如此，招之必降，擊之則滅。 今空復多出將率，郡縣苦之，反甚於賊。 宜盡征還乘傳諸使者，以休息郡縣。 委任臣況以二州盜賊，必平定之。」 莽畏惡況，陰為發代，遣使者賜況璽書。 使者至，見況，因令代監其兵。 況隨使者西，到，拜為師尉大夫。 況去，齊地遂敗。
Only Tian Kuang of Yiping boldly armed over forty thousand men eighteen or older from the registers and bound them with a stone oath. The Red Eyebrows would not cross into his district. Kuang impeached himself in a memorial; Mang reproached Kuang: "You were not granted a planning tally yet presumptuously raised troops—this is playing with arms. The offense was failure to meet labor quotas. Yet because Tian Kuang vowed to exterminate the rebels, Wang Mang suspended punishment." Tian Kuang later asked to pursue rebels beyond his command and smashed every band he met. Wang Mang then sealed an order making Tian Kuang de facto governor of both Qing and Xu. Kuang submitted a memorial: "When bandits first arise, their source is very small; they are not something local officials or squad men can capture. Magistrates lied to prefects and prefects to the capital, understating trouble by ten- or hundredfold. Neglect let revolt spread across provinces; then came waves of generals and inspectors hounding one another. Local governments spent everything entertaining and bribing visiting overseers to avoid decapitation, leaving nothing to fight rebels. Field commanders refused to lead from the front; defeat followed defeat, morale collapsed, and the people were bled dry. Amnesties had backfired: troops ambushed surrendering rebels, so the next wave would not trust offers of peace; terror and famine swelled the ranks by another hundred thousand in days. East of Luoyang grain had reached two thousand cash a picul. Sending the Grand Tutor and Renew the Beginning general with huge escorts would strip the roads of transport; too small a train would impress no one. He urged prompt appointment of capable pastors with clear reward and punishment. Evacuate vulnerable hamlets, concentrate the elderly in defensible cities, and hoard grain for a protracted defense. Walled cities would deny the rebels food and keep them from massing. Then offers of surrender would work and mopping up would finish the job. More imperial columns would only harass the counties worse than the rebels did. Recall the courier inspectors and give local government breathing room. Entrust to your servant Kuang the two provinces' bandits; I will surely pacify them." Wang Mang feared Tian Kuang's popularity and secretly plotted his removal under cover of an imperial letter. The envoy met Tian Kuang and stripped him of command in favor of a proxy. Tian Kuang was marched west and given a sinecure as tutor-ward grandee. Once he left, Qi collapsed to the rebels.
47
三年正月，九廟蓋構成，納神主。 莽謁見，大駕乘六馬，以五采毛為龍文衣，著角，長三尺。 華蓋車，元戎十乘有前。 因賜治廟者司徒、大司空餞客千萬，侍中、中常侍以下皆封。 封都匠仇延為邯淡裡附城。
In the first month of the third year the nine ancestral temples were roofed and received their spirit tablets. For the rites he rode a six-horse chariot in polychrome dragon robes sprouting three-foot horns. Ten war chariots led the train beneath layered canopies. He rewarded the builders with vast sums and titles down to the palace staff. Master builder Qiu Yan was ennobled as "attached-to-walls" of Handan-dan hamlet.
48
二月，霸橋災，數千人以水沃救，不滅。 莽惡之，下書曰：「夫三皇象春，五帝象夏，三王象秋，五伯象冬。 皇王，德運也； 伯者，繼空續乏以成歷數，故其道駁。 惟常安御道多以所近為名。 乃二月癸巳之夜，甲午之辰，火燒霸橋，從東方西行，至甲午夕，橋盡火滅。 大司空行視考問，或雲寒民舍居橋下，疑以火自燎，為此災也。 其明旦即乙未，立春之日也。 予以神明聖祖黃、虞遺統受命，至於地皇四年為十五年。 正以三年終冬絕滅霸駁之橋，欲以興成新室統一長存之道也。 又戒此橋空東方之道。 今東方歲荒民饑，道路不通，東嶽太師亟科條，開東方諸倉，賑貸窮乏，以施仁道。 其更名霸館為長存館，霸橋為長存橋。」
In the second month the Ba Bridge caught fire; thousands splashed water in vain. Mang hated this and issued a document: "The Three August Ones correspond to spring, the Five Emperors to summer, the Three Kings to autumn, and the Five Hegemons to winter. The ancient sage-kings embodied the turning of virtuous cosmic cycles. The hegemons had patched failing ages; their way was therefore "mixed" or impure. He noted that Chang'an's avenues were named for nearby landmarks. From the guisi night to the jiawu dusk the blaze raced west along the Ba Bridge until the span was consumed. The minister of works investigated rumors that freezing vagrants sheltering under the bridge had accidentally torched it. The morning after was yiwei—the day spring begins on the calendar. He reckoned fifteen years since he had inherited the mandate of the Yellow Emperor and Shun. He spun the fire as heaven ending the "Ba hegemon" bridge of impure rule and clearing the path for Xin's eternal unity. He added that the bridge had "blocked" the eastern road—spiritually and literally. With famine blocking the east, he ordered the Eastern March to open granaries and feed the starving as an act of "benevolence. He rechristened the inn and the span "Long-Endurance" to match his propaganda."
49
是月，赤眉殺太師犧仲景尚。 關東人相食。
That month the Red Eyebrows slew Jing Shang, the grand tutor. East of the passes cannibalism began.
50
四月，遣太師王匡、更始將軍廉丹東，祖都門外，天大雨，沾衣止。 長老歎曰：「是為泣軍！」 莽曰：「惟陽九之厄，與害氣會，究於去年。 枯旱霜蝗，饑饉荐臻，百姓困乏，流離道路，於春尤甚，予甚悼之。 今使東嶽太師特進褒新侯開東方諸倉，賑貸窮乏。 太師公所不過道，分遣大夫謁者並開諸倉，以全元元。 太師公因與廉丹大使五威司命位右大司馬更始將軍平均侯之兗州，填撫所掌，及青、徐故不軌盜賊未盡解散，後復屯聚者，皆清潔之，期於安兆黎矣。」 太師、更始合將銳士十餘萬人，所過放縱。 東方為之語曰：「寧逢赤眉，不逢太師！ 太師尚可，更始殺我！」 卒如田況之言。
In the fourth month Wang Kuang and Lian Dan sacrificed outside the city gate before marching east; a downpour drenched the army to a halt. The elders sighed: "This is weeping for the army!" Wang Mang replied that the worst of the cosmic "yang nine" crisis had passed the year before. He acknowledged drought, frost, locusts, and wandering refugees, worst that spring, professing grief. He ordered Wang Kuang to open eastern granaries for relief. Along routes Wang Kuang would not take, other officials were to distribute grain. The Grand Tutor Duke shall therefore go to Yanzhou together with Lian Dan, Great Envoy and Director of Fate of the Five Powers, ranking to the right of the Grand Marshal, General Renewing the Beginning, Marquis Pingjun, to occupy and pacify the area under his charge. As for the former lawless bandits of Qing and Xu who have not yet fully dispersed and later gather again, cleanse them all away, with the goal of securing the common people." Their combined column of over a hundred thousand looted every district it crossed. The east made a saying: "Better meet the Red Eyebrows than meet the grand tutor! Wang Kuang was tolerable; Lian Dan's troops were killers." Events proved Tian Kuang right.
51
莽又多遣大夫謁者分教民煮草木為酪，酪不可食，重為煩費。 莽下書曰：「惟民困乏，雖溥開諸倉以賑贍之，猶恐未足。 其且開天下山澤之防，諸能採取山澤之物而順月令者，其恣聽之，勿令出稅。 至地皇三十年如故，是王光上戊之六年也。 如令豪吏猾民辜而攉之，小民弗蒙，非予意也。 《易》不云乎？ 『損上益下，民說無疆。』 《書》云：『言之不從，是謂不艾。』 咨乎群公，可不憂哉！」
Wang Mang's advisers tried to teach famine victims to brew "milk" from weeds; it was inedible and wasted more labor. Mang issued a document: "The people alone are exhausted and impoverished. Though we have broadly opened the granaries to relieve and support them, I still fear this is not enough. He temporarily lifted the monopoly on foraging in hills and swamps for those who followed seasonal rules—without tax. The tax holiday was to run until Earth Sovereign 30 in his calendar fiction. He warned rich predators not to corner the new forage rights. He quoted the Book of Changes. Take from those above to enrich those below, and the people rejoice without end." The Book of Documents, he added, condemns rulers whose orders go unheard. Alas, host of dukes—can you not worry!"
52
是時，下江兵盛，新市硃鮪、平林陳牧等皆復聚眾，攻擊鄉聚。 莽遣司命大將軍孔仁部豫州，納言大將軍嚴尤、秩宗大將軍陳茂擊荊州，各從吏士百餘人，乘船從渭入河，至華陰乃出乘傳，到部募士。 尤謂茂曰：「遣將不與兵符，必先請而後動，是猶紲韓盧而責之獲也。」
The Lower Yang host grew while Zhu Wei and Chen Mu renewed raids on villages. Mang sent Kong Ren, Grand General Who Controls Fate, to command in Yuzhou, and sent Yan You, Grand General and Nayan, together with Chen Mao, Grand General and Minister of Rites, to attack Jingzhou. Each took a little over a hundred officers and soldiers, traveled by boat from the Wei into the Yellow River, disembarked at Huayin, then took post carriages to their commands to recruit troops. You said to Mao, "To send generals without military tallies and require them to request permission before every move is like tying up a Han hound and demanding that it catch prey."
53
夏，蝗從東方來，蜚蔽天，至長安，入未央宮，緣殿閣。 莽發吏民設購賞捕擊。 莽以天下谷貴，欲厭之，為大倉，置衛交戟，名曰「政始掖門」。
A locust swarm rolled from the east, darkened the sky, and swarmed the Weiyang Palace. He offered bounties for killing locusts. To drive down grain prices he built a fortified granary called "Government Beginning Side Gate."
54
流民入關者數十萬人，乃置養贍官稟食之。 使者監領，與小吏共盜其稟，饑死者十七八。 先是，莽使中黃門王業領長安市買，賤取於民，民甚患之。 業以省費為功，賜爵附城。 莽聞城中饑饉，以問業，業曰：「皆流民也。」 乃市所賣梁飯肉羹，持入視莽，曰：「居民食咸如此。」 莽信之。
Hundreds of thousands of refugees entered the passes; he created relief offices to feed them. Corrupt overseers and clerks stole the food; seventy or eighty percent of the refugees starved. Earlier Wang Ye had rigged market purchases to cheat the capital. Wang Ye was rewarded for his economy. Mang heard that hunger was in the city and asked Ye; Ye said: "They are all wandering people." He then bought the millet rice and meat broth being sold in the market, brought them in to show Mang, and said, "The residents are all eating food like this." Wang Mang believed him.
55
冬，無鹽索盧恢等舉兵反城。 廉丹、王匡攻拔之，斬首萬餘級。 莽遣中郎將奉璽書勞丹、匡，進爵為公，封吏士有功者十餘人。
That winter rebels under Suolu Hui seized Wuyan. Lian Dan and Wang Kuang retook the city with ten thousand heads counted. Wang Mang sent congratulations, promoted both to dukes, and ennobled a dozen soldiers.
56
赤眉別校董憲等眾數萬人在梁郡，王匡欲進擊之，廉丹以為新拔城罷勞，當且休士養威。 匡不聽，引兵獨進，丹隨之。 合戰成昌，兵敗，匡走。 丹使吏持其印□符節付匡曰：「小兒可走，吾不可！」 遂止，戰死。 校尉汝雲、王隆等二十餘人別鬥，聞之，皆曰：「廉公已死，吾誰為生？」 馳奔賊，皆戰死。 莽傷之，下書曰：「惟公多擁選士精兵，眾郡駿馬倉谷帑藏皆得自調，忽於詔策，離其威節，騎馬呵噪，為狂刃所害，烏呼哀哉！賜諡曰果公。」
Wang Kuang wanted to attack Dong Xian's Red Eyebrows in Liang; Lian Dan urged rest after the siege. Wang Kuang marched alone; Lian Dan trailed him. At Chengchang they were routed; Wang Kuang ran. Dan ordered a clerk to hold his seal □ and staff of office and hand them to Kuang, saying: "Little children can run—I cannot!" He stood his ground and died fighting. Commandants Ru Yun, Wang Long, and more than twenty others were fighting elsewhere. When they heard of it, they all said, "Lord Lian is already dead; for whom should we live?" They charged the enemy line and perished. Grieving for Lian Dan, Wang Mang issued an edict: "You alone commanded picked troops and could draw on commandery horses, granaries, and treasuries at will; yet you ignored strategy, left your staff of office, rode shouting into battle, and were cut down by mad blades—alas! I grant the posthumous title Duke of Fruit."
57
國將哀章謂莽曰：「皇祖考黃帝之時，中黃直為將，破殺蚩尤。 今臣中黃直之位，願平山東。」 莽遣章馳東，與太師匡並力。 又遺大將軍陽浚守敖倉，司徒王尋將十餘萬屯雒陽填南宮，大司馬董忠養士習射中軍北壘，大司空王邑兼三公之職。 司徒尋初發長安，宿霸昌廄，亡其黃鉞。 尋士房揚素狂直，乃哭曰：「此經所謂『喪其齊斧』者也！」 自劾去。 莽擊殺揚。
Ai Zhang cited mythic precedent: the "middle yellow straight" general had slain Chiyou for the Yellow Emperor. Now your servant's middle yellow straight position—I beg to pacify Shandong." Wang Mang sent Ai Zhang east to join Wang Kuang. He posted Yang Jun at Ao Granary, Wang Xun at Luoyang, Dong Zhong drilling troops north of the palace, and Wang Yi juggling three portfolios. Wang Xun lost his ceremonial axe the night he left Chang'an. Xun's clerk Fang Yang by nature was wild and straight; then wept saying: "This is what the classic calls 'losing its ceremonial axe'!" Fang Yang resigned in protest. Wang Mang had Fang Yang executed.
58
四方盜賊往往數萬人攻城邑，殺二千石以下。 太師王匡等戰數不利。 莽知天下潰畔，事窮計迫，乃議遣風俗大夫司國憲等分行天下，除井田奴婢山澤六筦之禁，即位以來詔令不便於民者皆收還之。 待見未發，會世祖與兄齊武王伯升、宛人李通等帥舂陵子弟數千人，招致新巿平林朱鮪、陳牧等合攻拔棘陽。 是時嚴尤、陳茂破下江兵，成丹、王常等數千人別走，入南陽界。 十一月，有星孛于張，東南行，五日不見。 莽數召問太史令宗宣，諸術數家皆繆對，言天文安善，群賊且滅。 莽差以自安。
Rebel hosts of tens of thousands were besieging towns and killing local officials throughout the empire. Grand Tutor Wang Kuang suffered repeated defeats. Seeing the realm unravel, he planned to send commissioners to abolish his land, slave, and monopoly laws and revoke unpopular edicts. Before the decree could be issued, Liu Xiu with his brother Liu Yan and Li Tong of Wan rallied Chunling clansmen, joined Zhu Wei and Chen Mu of the Xinshi and Pinglin forces, and captured Jiyang. Meanwhile Yan You and Chen Mao routed the Lower Yang rebels; Cheng Dan, Wang Chang, and thousands of survivors fled into Nanyang. In the eleventh month a comet appeared in the Zhang lunar lodge, moved southeast, and vanished after five days. Wang Mang questioned Zong Xuan; the astrologers lied that omens were fine and rebels nearly gone. He let himself be comforted.
59
四年正月，漢兵得下江王常等以為助兵，擊前隊大夫甄阜、屬正梁丘賜，皆斬之，殺其眾數萬人。 初，京師聞青、徐賊眾數十萬人，訖無文號旌旗表識，咸怪異之。 好事者竊言：「此豈如古三皇無文書號謚邪？」 莽亦心怪，以問群臣，群臣莫對。 唯嚴尤曰：「此不足怪也。 自黃帝、湯、武行師，必待部曲旌旗號令，今此無有者，直饑寒群盜，犬羊相聚，不知為之耳。」 莽大說，群臣盡服。 及後漢兵劉伯升起，皆稱將軍，攻城略地，既殺甄阜，移書稱說。 莽聞之憂懼。
In the first month of year 4 Han insurgents with Wang Chang's Lower Yang men killed Zhen Fu and Liangqiu Ci and tens of thousands of their soldiers. The court marveled that eastern rebels had no slogans or banners. Busybodies whispered: "Could this be like the ancient three August Ones who lacked documents and posthumous titles?" Wang Mang asked his ministers and met silence. Only Yan You said, "This is not worth finding strange. From the Yellow Emperor, Tang, and Wu onward, armies always had units, banners, signals, and commands; without those, these are just cold and hungry bandits, dogs and sheep gathered together who do not know how to act." Wang Mang delighted; every minister agreed. When Liu Bosheng's Han army took titles and issued manifestoes after killing Zhen Fu, the picture changed. Wang Mang grew afraid.
60
漢兵乘勝遂圍宛城。 初，世祖族兄聖公先在平林兵中。 三月辛巳朔，平林、新市、下江兵將王常、硃鮪等共立聖公為帝，改年為更始元年，拜置百官。 莽聞之愈恐。 欲外視自安，乃染其鬚髮，進所征天下淑女杜陵史氏女為皇后，聘黃金三萬斤，車馬、奴婢、雜帛、珍寶以巨萬計。 莽親迎於前殿兩階間，成同牢之禮於上西堂。 備和嬪、美御、和人三，位視公； 嬪人九，視卿； 美人二十七，視大夫； 御人八十一，視元士：凡百二十人，皆佩印□，執弓。 封皇后父諶為和平侯，拜為寧始將軍，諶子二人皆侍中。 是日，大風發屋折木。 群臣上壽曰：「乃庚子雨水灑道，辛丑清靚無塵，其夕谷風迅疾，從東北來。 辛丑。 《巽》之宮日也。 《巽》為風為順，後誼明，母道得，溫和慈惠之化也。 《易》曰：『受茲介福，於其王母。』 《禮》曰：『承天之慶，萬福無疆。』 諸欲依廢漢火劉，皆沃灌雪除，殄滅無餘雜矣。 百穀豐茂，庶草蕃殖，元元驩喜，兆民賴福，天下幸甚！」 莽日與方士涿郡昭君等於後宮考驗方術，縱淫樂焉。 大赦天下，然猶曰：「故漢氏舂陵侯群子劉伯升與其族人婚姻黨與，妄流言惑眾，悖畔天命，及手害更始將軍廉丹、前隊大夫甄阜、屬正梁丘賜，及北狄胡虜逆輿泊南僰虜若豆、孟遷，不用此書。 有能捕得此人者，皆封為上公，食邑萬戶，賜寶貨五千萬。」
The Han force besieged Wan. Liu Xuan, the future Gengshi Emperor, had been with the Pinglin band. On the new moon of the third month the coalition enthroned Liu Xuan as Gengshi Emperor and set up a court. The news terrified Wang Mang further. To look vigorous he dyed his whiskers black and took a teenaged Shi girl from Duling as empress at staggering bride-price. He met her between the twin flights and performed the nuptial rite of shared meat. He created three consort ranks equal to dukes: nine concubines equal to ministers; twenty-seven "beauties" equal to grandees; eighty-one attendants equal to primal gentlemen—one hundred twenty women in all, each with seal and bow. He ennobled his father-in-law Shi Chen and made both sons attendants. On the wedding day a gale tore the capital. The assembled ministers offered birthday congratulations, saying, "On gengzi, rainwater sprinkled the roads; on xinchou, it was clear and quiet, with no dust. That evening, a swift valley wind came from the northeast. Xinchou: they intoned, was the palace day of the Xun trigram. Xun meant wind, submission, and the virtues of empress and mother. They quoted the Book of Changes on blessings from the royal grandmother. They added a line from the Rites on boundless fortune. They prayed that foes of Han's "fire" element—meaning Liu—would be wiped away like snow. The hundred grains are lush, the hundred grasses luxuriant, the common people rejoice, the myriad people rely on blessing—great fortune for all under heaven!" Wang Mang spent his days in the harem testing occult arts with adepts such as Zhaojun of Zhuo commandery. He proclaimed a general amnesty but added: "Former Han's Chunling marquis's group of sons Liu Bosheng with his clan marriage faction, wantonly spreading rumors to delude the masses, rebelling against Heaven's mandate, and personally harming Renew the Beginning general Lian Dan, forward column grandee Zhen Fu, and dependent rectifier Liangqiu Ci, and northern Di Hu barbarian rebel Yu, down to southern Bo barbarians Ruo Dou and Meng Qian, do not use this document. Whoever can capture these persons, all will be enfeoffed as upper duke, food city ten thousand households, grant treasure goods fifty million."
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又詔：「太師王匡、國將哀章、司命孔仁、兗州牧壽良、卒正王閎、揚州牧李聖亟進所部州郡兵凡三十萬眾，迫措青、徐盜賊。 納言將軍嚴尤、秩宗將軍陳茂、車騎將軍王巡、左隊大夫王吳亟進所部州郡兵凡十萬眾，迫措前隊丑虜。 明告以生活丹青之信，復迷惑不解散，皆並力合擊，殄滅之矣！ 大司空隆新公，宗室戚屬，前以虎牙將軍東指則反虜破壞，西擊則逆賊靡碎，此乃新室威寶之臣也。 如黠賊不解散，將遣大司空將百萬之師征伐剿絕之矣！」 遣七公幹士隗囂等七十二人分下赦令曉諭雲。 囂等既出，因逃亡矣。
He also issued an edict: "Grand Tutor Wang Kuang, State General Ai Zhang, Director of Fate Kong Ren, Governor of Yanzhou Shou Liang, Division Corrector Wang Hong, and Governor of Yangzhou Li Sheng are to urgently advance the troops of the provinces and commanderies under them, three hundred thousand men in all, to press and capture the bandits of Qing and Xu. Another hundred thousand were to crush the "forward column" rebels. He promised mercy to those who surrendered with the "red pledge" of good faith; holdouts would face annihilation. Wang Yi, grand minister of works and imperial in-law, had crushed rebels east and west as Tiger-Fang general—Wang Mang hailed him as the pillar of Xin. If they refused to disperse, Wang Yi would take a million men and wipe them out." He sent seventy-two envoys including Wei Xiao to proclaim amnesties in the field. Wei Xiao and his colleagues bolted rather than serve the mission.
62
四月，世祖與王常等別攻穎州，下昆陽、郾、定陵。 莽聞之愈恐。 遣大司空王邑馳偉至雒陽，與司徒王尋發眾郡兵百萬，號曰「虎牙五威兵」，平定山東。 得顓封爵，政決於邑，除用征諸明兵法六十三家術者，各持圖書，受器械，備軍吏。 傾府庫以遣邑，多繼珍寶、猛獸，欲視饒富，用怖山東。 邑至雒陽，州郡各選精兵，牧守自將，定會者四十二萬人，余在道不絕，車甲士馬之盛，自古出師未嘗有也。
In the fourth month Liu Xiu with Wang Chang drove into Yingzhou and captured Kunyang, Yan, and Dingling. Wang Mang was terrified anew. He dispatched Wang Yi, Grand Minister of Works, by fast relay to Luoyang, where together with Wang Xun, Minister of Education, he mobilized a million troops from the commanderies. They were called the "Tiger-Fang Five-Powers Army" and were to pacify Shandong. Wang Yi held sole authority over appointments and strategy, drafting sixty-three schools of military specialists with manuals and arms. The treasury was emptied to outfit Wang Yi with treasure and caged beasts to overawe the east with a show of wealth. At Luoyang four hundred twenty thousand effectives mustered, with more still marching—an expedition unmatched in scale.
63
六月，邑與司徒尋發雒陽，欲室宛，道出穎川，過昆陽。 昆陽時已降漢，漢兵守之。 嚴尤、陳茂與二公會，二公縱兵圍昆陽。 嚴尤曰：「稱尊號者在宛下，宜亟進。 彼破，諸城自定矣。」 邑曰：「百萬之師，所過當滅，今屬此城，喋血而進，前歌後舞，顧不快邪！」 遂圍城數十重。 城中請降，不許。 嚴尤又曰：「『歸師勿遏，圍城為之闕』，可如兵法，使得逸出，以怖宛下。」 邑又不聽。 會世祖悉發郾、定陵兵數千人來救昆陽，尋、邑易之，自將萬餘人行陳，敕諸營皆按部毋得動，獨迎，與漢兵戰，不利。 大軍不敢擅相救，漢兵乘勝殺尋。 昆陽中兵出並戰，邑走，軍亂。 大風飛瓦，雨如注水，大眾崩壞號呼，虎豹股慄，士卒奔走，各還歸其郡。 邑獨與所將長安勇敢數千人還雒陽。 關中聞之震恐，盜賊並起。
In the sixth month Wang Yi and Wang Xun marched from Luoyang toward Wan by way of Yingchuan and Kunyang. Kunyang had gone over to Han and was held by Han troops. Yan You and Chen Mao joined Wang Yi and Wang Xun, who invested Kunyang. Yan You said: "He who has taken the title of emperor lies below at Wan; it is fitting to press forward urgently. Fall Wan, he said, and other towns would collapse of themselves." Yi said, "A host of a million should destroy whatever it passes. Now, if we are held up by this city, then we should advance through blood, with songs in front and dances behind. Would that not be exhilarating?" They drew the siege lines dozens deep. The defenders' offer to yield was refused. Yan You also said, "'Do not block an army returning home; when besieging a city, leave it a gap.' We can follow the art of war by letting them escape, so that they frighten those below Wan." Wang Yi refused again. Liu Xiu brought a few thousand relief troops; Wang Xun and Wang Yi dismissed them, led ten thousand out in line, and forbade other camps to stir—then met Han and fared badly. The imperial host dared not counterattack without orders; Han troops cut down Wang Xun in the rout. The garrison sallied; Wang Yi ran and the Xin army collapsed. A storm tore roofs, rain fell in sheets, beasts in the menagerie cowered, and survivors fled for their home provinces. Wang Yi escaped to Luoyang with only a few thousand picked men from Chang'an. Guanzhong panicked and revolts flared everywhere.
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又聞漢兵言，莽鴆殺孝平帝。 莽乃會公卿以下於王路堂，開所為平帝請命金滕之策，泣以視群臣。 命明學男張邯稱說其德及符命事，因曰：「《易》言『伏戎於莽，升其高陵，三歲不興。』 『莽』，皇帝之名，『升』謂劉伯升。 『高陵』謂高陵侯子翟義也。 言劉升、翟義為伏戎之兵於新皇帝世，猶殄滅不興也。」 群臣皆稱萬歲。 又令東方檻車傳送數人，言「劉伯升等皆行大戮」。 臣知其詐也。
Rumors spread that Wang Mang had poisoned Emperor Ping. He gathered his ministers at the Kingly Road Hall, produced the golden-casket petition he claimed had saved Emperor Ping's life, and wept for all to see. He had Zhang Han expound omens: the Changes line about "hiding soldiers in Mang" referred to his name, he claimed. Mang" was himself; "ascend" meant Liu Bosheng. High mound" pointed to Zhai Yi, son of the marquis of that title. Both rebels had been crushed despite the prophecy—so the Han threat was null, he argued." The courtiers cheered his sophistry. Also ordered the east to cage-cart relay transmit several persons, saying "Liu Bosheng and others have all undergone great execution." I knew it was a fraud.
65
先是，衛將軍王涉素養道士西門君惠。 君惠好天文讖記，為涉言：「星孛掃宮室，劉氏當復興，國師公姓名是也。」 涉信其言，以語大司馬董忠，數俱至國師殿中廬道語星宿，國師不應。 後涉特往，對歆涕泣言：「誠欲與公共安宗族，奈何不信涉也！」 歆因為言天文人事，東方必成。 涉曰：「新都哀侯小被病，功顯君素耆酒，疑帝本非我家子也。 董公主中軍精兵，涉領宮衛，伊休侯主殿中，如同心合謀，共劫持帝，東降南陽天子，可以全宗族； 不者，俱夷滅矣！」 伊休侯者，歆長子也，為侍中五官中朗將，莽素愛之。 歆怨莽殺其三子，又畏大禍至，遂與涉、忠謀，欲發。 歆曰：「當待太白星出，乃可。」 忠以司中大贅起武侯孫伋亦主兵，復與伋謀。 伋歸家，顏色變，不能食。 妻怪問之，語其狀。 妻以告弟雲陽陳邯，邯欲告之。 七月，伋與邯俱告，莽遣使者分召忠等。 時忠方進兵都肄，護軍王咸謂忠謀久不發，恐漏洩，不如遂斬使者，勒兵入。 忠不聽，遂與歆、涉會省戶下。 莽令鹊惲責問，皆服。 中黃門各拔刃將忠等送廬，忠拔劍欲自刎，侍中王望傳言大司馬反，黃門持劍共格殺之。 省中相驚傳，勒兵至郎署，皆拔刃張弩。 更始將軍史諶行諸署，告郎吏曰：「大司馬有狂病，發，已誅。」 皆令馳兵，莽欲以厭凶，使虎賁以斬馬劍挫忠，盛以竹器，傳曰「反虜出」。 下書赦大司馬官屬吏士為忠所詿誤，謀反未發覺者。 收忠宗族，以醇醯毒藥、尺白刃叢棘並一坎而埋之。 劉歆、王涉皆自殺。 莽以二人骨肉舊臣，惡其內潰，故隱其誅。 伊休侯疊又以素謹，歆訖不告，但免侍中中郎將，更為中散大夫。 後日殿中鉤盾土山仙人掌旁有白頭公青衣，郎吏見者私謂之國師公。 衍功侯喜素善卦，莽使筮之，曰：「憂兵火。」 莽曰：「小兒安得此左道？ 是乃予之皇祖叔父子僑欲來迎我也。」
Guard General Wang She had long patronized the diviner Ximen Junhui. Junhui was fond of astronomy and prophecy texts, and said to She, "The broom star sweeps the palace halls; the Liu clan is due to rise again, and the State Master's public name matches the sign." Wang She told Dong Zhong; they visited Liu Xin repeatedly, but Liu Xin stayed silent. Afterward She went alone, faced Xin weeping and said: "I truly wish with you jointly to secure our clans—why do you not trust She!" Then Liu Xin admitted the stars and the rebellion doomed Xin. She said: "Xindu marquis Ai was slightly ill in youth; merit-display lord loved wine—I suspect the emperor was originally not our house's son. Lord Dong commands the crack troops of the central army, She leads the palace guards, and the Marquis of Yixiu controls the palace interior. If they join hearts and plot together, seize and hold the emperor, and go east to submit to the Son of Heaven in Nanyang, they can preserve the whole clan; if not, all will be exterminated!" Liu Die, Liu Xin's eldest son, was a favored attendant. Liu Xin hated Wang Mang for murdering three of his sons and feared the end; he joined the plot. Xin said: "We ought to wait until the Great White star appears—only then." Dong Zhong then drew in Sun Ji, Marquis of Qiwu, who also held military command, and plotted with him as well. Sun Ji returned home pale and unable to eat. His wife pressed him until he confessed. She told her brother Chen Han, who prepared to inform. In the seventh month Sun Ji and Chen Han denounced the plot; Wang Mang summoned the conspirators. Wang Xian urged Dong Zhong to kill the messengers and march on the palace at once. Dong Zhong refused and went meekly to the palace interview. Wang Mang sent Que Yun to interrogate them; all confessed. In the corridor Dong Zhong tried suicide; attendants cried treason and cut him down. Alarm raced through the palace; guards strung bows at every bureau. Shi Chen went through the offices and told the gentlemen, "The grand marshal has gone mad; the fit has broken out; he has been executed." All were ordered to hurry their troops forward. Mang wished to suppress the omen, so he ordered the Tiger Guards to cut Zhong apart with horse-beheading swords, pack the pieces in bamboo containers, and send them along by relay, announcing, "Rebel captive sent out." He pardoned Dong Zhong's staff who had not yet been implicated. Dong Zhong's clan was executed with vinegar poison, blades, and brambles in a mass pit. Liu Xin and Wang She committed suicide. Wang Mang hushed up the suicides of his old kinsmen by marriage. Liu Die, kept ignorant, was only demoted to scattered grandee. A white-haired figure in green appeared by the palace cactus—clerks whispered it was Liu Xin's ghost. Wang Mang had Wang Xi cast stalks; the reading was "arms and fire." Mang said: "How could children get this left-hand way? This is then my august ancestor's uncle's son Qiao coming to welcome me."
66
莽軍師外破，大臣內畔，左右亡所信，不能復遠念郡國，欲呼邑與計議。 崔發曰：「邑素小心，今失大眾而征，恐其執節引決，宜有以大慰其意。」 於是莽遣發馳傳諭邑：「我年老毋適子，欲傳邑以天下。 敕亡得謝，見勿復道。」 邑到，以為大司馬。 大長秋張邯為大司徒，崔發為大司空，司中壽容苗訢為國師，同說侯林為衛將軍。 莽憂懣不能食，但飲酒，啖鰒魚。 讀軍書倦，因憑幾寐，不復就枕矣。 性好時日小數，及事迫急，但為厭勝。 遣使壞渭陵、延陵園門罘罳，曰：「毋使民復思也。」 又以墨洿色其周垣。 號將至曰「歲宿」，申水為「助將軍」，右庚「刻木校尉」，前丙「耀金都尉鸀，又曰「執大斧，伐枯木； 流大水，滅發火。」 如此屬不可勝記。
With armies lost and ministers gone, he wanted Wang Yi back for counsel. Cui Fa said, "Yi is normally cautious. Now that he has lost the great army and been summoned back, I fear he may hold to his integrity and kill himself. There should be some great gesture to comfort his mind." Thereupon Mang sent Fa by fast relay to instruct Yi: "I am old and have no suitable son; I wish to transmit all under heaven to Yi. Ordered him not to decline on arrival, audience need not again speak of it." When Wang Yi came he was named grand marshal. He reshuffled the top posts again—Zhang Han, Cui Fa, Miao Xin, and Lin. Wang Mang could not eat, drank constantly, and nibbled dried abalone. He dozed over his desk instead of going to bed. He fell back on petty occult counter-magic. Dispatched envoys to destroy Wei tomb and Yan tomb park gates' screens, saying: "Do not let the people again think of them." He had the tomb precinct walls smeared black. He renamed officers with cosmic tags—Year Lodging, Assistant General, Wood-Carving colonel, Glitter-Metal commandant—and chanted "wield the great axe, cut dead wood." (The line breaks mid-graph in the source.) "Loose great floods to quench the fire of revolt." The list of occult titles ran on beyond counting.
67
秋，太白星流入太微，燭地如月光。
That autumn Venus shot into the Grand Tenuity asterism and shone like moonlight on earth.
68
成紀隗崔兄弟共劫大尹李育，以兄子隗囂為大將軍，攻殺雍州牧陳慶、安定卒正王旬，並其眾，移書郡縣，數莽罪惡萬於桀、紂。
Wei Cui of Chengji rebelled, made Wei Ao general, killed Xin officials, and circulated a manifesto branding Wang Mang worse than Jie and Zhou.
69
是月，析人鄧曄、於匡起兵南鄉百餘人。 時析宰將兵數千屯鄡亭，備武關。 曄、匡謂宰曰：「劉帝已立，君何不知命也！」 宰請降，盡得其眾。 曄自稱輔漢左將軍，匡右將軍，拔析、丹水，攻武關，都尉硃萌降。 進攻右隊大夫宋綱，殺之，西拔湖。 莽愈憂，不知所出。 崔發言：「《周禮》及《春秋左氏》，國有大災，則哭以厭之。 故《易》稱『先號啕而後笑』。 宜呼嗟告天以求救。」 莽自知敗，乃率群臣至南郊，陳其符命本末，仰天曰：「皇天既命授臣莽，何不殄滅眾賊？ 即令臣莽非是，願下雷霆誅臣莽！」 因搏心大哭，氣盡，伏而叩頭。 又作告天策，自陳功勞，千餘言。 諸生小民會旦夕哭，為設飧粥，甚悲哀及能誦策文者除以為郎，至五千餘人。 鹊惲將領之。
Deng Ye and Yu Kuang of Xi rose with a hundred men at Nanxiang. The county magistrate held Wu Pass with thousands at Gao pavilion. Ye and Kuang told the magistrate: "The Liu emperor is already established—why do you not know fate!" He surrendered and his troops joined the rebels. Deng Ye and Yu Kuang took Xi, Danshui, and Wu Pass; Zhu Meng defected. They killed Song Gang and seized Hu to the west. Wang Mang despaired. Cui Fa spoke: "The Rites of Zhou and Zuo's Spring and Autumn—when the state has great disaster, then weep to subdue it. He quoted the Changes on weeping before joy. It is fitting to cry aloud and tell Heaven to seek rescue." Wang Mang led his court south, displayed his "mandate," and howled at heaven why rebels still lived. If it be that your servant Mang is not right, I beg send down thunder to execute your servant Mang!" He wept until he collapsed, pounding his head on the ground. He wrote a thousand-word self-justification to heaven. He fed a mob of professional mourners and made five thousand who memorized his text into court gentlemen. Que Yun commanded the mourners.
70
莽拜將軍九人，皆以虎為號，九曰「九虎」將北軍精兵數萬人東，內其妻子宮中以為質。 時省中黃金萬斤者為一匱，尚有六十匱，黃門、鉤盾、臧府、中尚方處處各有數匱。 長樂御府、中御府及都內、平准帑藏錢、帛、珠玉財物甚眾，莽愈愛之，賜九虎士人四千錢。 眾重怨，無鬥意。 九虎至華陰回溪，距隘，北從河南至山。 於匡持數千弩，乘堆挑戰。 鄧曄將二萬餘人從閿鄉南出棗街、作姑，破其一部，北出九虎後擊之。 六虎敗走。 史熊、王況詣闕歸死，莽使使責死者按在，皆自殺； 其四虎亡。 三虎郭欽、陳翬、成重收散卒，保京師倉。
He named nine "Tiger" generals, the Nine Tigers, who marched east with northern-army veterans while their families were held hostage in the palace. The palace still held sixty coffers of gold by the ten-thousand-jin measure, with more scattered through the workshops and treasuries. Vast wealth sat in the Changle and central treasuries and the capital granaries, yet Wang Mang grudged the Nine Tigers four thousand cash apiece—fueling mutiny. The men seethed and would not fight. The Nine Tigers blocked the defile at Huayin's Huixi, from the Henan plain up into the hills. Yu Kuang stood on a height with thousands of crossbowmen and taunted them. Deng Ye swung south of Wenxiang, broke one Xin wing, then hit the Nine Tigers from the rear. Six of the nine columns broke and ran. Shi Xiong and Wang Kuang offered suicide; Wang Mang's envoys browbeat them until they killed themselves. Four more generals deserted. Three surviving generals—Guo Qin, Chen Hui, and Cheng Chong—rallied scattered troops and held the capital granary.
71
鄧曄開武關迎漢，丞相司直李松將二千餘人至湖，與曄等共攻京師倉，未下。 曄以弘農掾王憲為校尉，將數百人北度渭，入左馮翊界，降城略地。 李松遣偏將軍韓臣等徑西至新豐，與莽波水將軍戰，波水走。 韓臣等追奔，遂至長門宮。 王憲北至頻陽，所過迎降。 大姓櫟陽申碭、下邽王大皆率眾隨憲，屬縣EA69嚴春、茂陵董喜、藍田王孟、槐裡汝臣、盩厔王扶、陽陵嚴本、杜陵屠門少之屬，眾皆數千人，假號稱漢將。
Deng Ye opened Wu Pass; Li Song joined him at Hu but failed to storm the granary. Deng Ye made Wang Xian colonel; he crossed north into Zuo Fengyi and rolled up towns. Han Chen drove to Xinfeng and routed the Bo-water general. The pursuit carried to Changmen Palace. Wang Xian advanced to Pinyang; cities opened their gates. Gentry from Liyang to Duling flocked to Wang Xian in thousands, each band flying Han colors. (One county name in the source shows a damaged character cluster.)
72
時李松、鄧曄以為，京師小小倉尚未可下，何況長安城！ 當須更始帝大兵到。 即引軍至華陰，治攻具。 而長安旁兵四會城下，聞天水隗氏兵方到，皆爭欲先入城，貪立大功鹵掠之利。
Li Song and Deng Ye judged the inner granary too tough for now, let alone the capital walls. They decided to wait until Liu Xuan's main army arrived. They withdrew to Huayin to build siege equipment. Meanwhile adventurers ringed Chang'an, racing to be first inside for loot and glory.
73
莽遣使者分赦城中諸獄囚徒，皆授兵，殺豨飲其血，與誓曰：「有不為新室者，社鬼記之！」 更始將軍史諶將度渭橋，皆散走。 諶空還。 眾兵發掘莽妻子父祖塚，燒其棺槨及九廟、明堂、辟雍，火照城中。 或謂莽曰：「城門卒，東方人，不可信。」 莽更發越騎士為衛，門置六百人，各一校尉。
Wang Mang armed the convicts, made them swear a blood oath: "Whoever is not for the New House, the earth god will record him!" Shi Chen tried to march them across the Wei; they bolted. He came back alone. Rebel armies desecrated Wang tombs and torched the ritual halls; the glow filled Chang'an. Someone told Mang: "The gate guards are easterners—not to be trusted." He replaced them with six hundred Yue archers per gate under colonels.
74
十月戊申朔，兵從宣平城門入，民間所謂都門也。 張邯行城門，逢兵見殺。 王邑、王林、王巡、鹊惲等分將兵距擊北闕下。 漢兵貪莽封力戰者七百餘人。 會日暮，官府邸第盡奔亡。 二日己酉，城中少年硃弟、張魚等恐見鹵掠，趨言雚並和，燒作室門，斧敬法闥，呼曰：「反虜王莽，何不出降？」 火及掖廷承明，黃皇室主所居也。 莽避火宣室前殿，火輒隨之。 宮人婦女謕謼曰：「當奈何！」 時莽紺袀服，帶璽韍，持虞帝匕首。 天文郎桉栻於前，日時加某，莽旋席隨斗柄而坐，曰：「天生德於予，漢兵其如予何！」 莽時不食，少氣困矣。
On the wushen new moon of the tenth month the Han force broke in through Xuandu, the metropolitan gate. Zhang Han died at the gate. Wang Yi, Wang Lin, Wang Xun, Que Yun, and others led detachments to fight below the northern gate. Only seven hundred fought hard for Wang Mang's promised rewards. At dusk officials fled their yamens. On the second day, jiyou, young men in the city, including Zhu Di and Zhang Yu, feared being plundered. They ran about spreading word and joining with one another, burned the gate of the workshop, hacked at the Jingfa gate with axes, and shouted, "Rebel captive Wang Mang, why not come out and surrender?" Flames reached the princess's quarters in the rear palace. He fled from hall to hall ahead of the flames. Women of the harem wailed, "What can we do!" Wang Mang wore dark plain robes, belted his seal sash, and carried Emperor Shun's dagger. His astrologer set the board before him; Wang Mang turned his mat with the Dipper handle and said, "Heaven gave virtue to me—what can the Han troops do to me!" He had stopped eating and was failing.
75
三日庚戌，晨旦明，群臣扶掖莽，自前殿南下椒除，西出白虎門，和新公王揖奉車待門外，莽就車，之漸台，欲阻池水，猶抱持符命、威鬥，公、卿、大夫、侍中、黃門郎從官尚千餘人隨之。 王邑晝夜戰，罷極，士死傷略盡，馳入宮，間關至漸台，見其子侍中睦解衣冠欲逃，邑叱之令還，父子共守莽。 軍人入殿中，呼曰：「反虜王莽安在？」 有美人出房曰「在漸台。」 眾兵追之，圍數百重。 台上亦弓弩與相射，稍稍落去。 矢盡，無以復射，短兵接。 王邑父平、鹊惲、王巡戰死，莽入室。 下餔時，眾兵上臺，王揖、趙博、苗訢、唐尊、王盛、中常侍王參等皆死臺上。 商人杜吳殺莽，取其綬。 校尉東海公賓就，故大行治禮，見吳問：「綬主所在？」 曰：「室中西北陬間。」 就識，斬莽首。 軍人分裂莽身，支節肌骨臠分，爭相殺者數十人。 公賓就持莽首詣王憲。 憲自稱漢大將軍，城中兵數十萬皆屬焉，捨東宮，妻莽後宮，乘其車服。
On the third day, gengxu, at clear dawn, the assembled ministers supported Wang Mang as he descended south from the front hall by the pepper stairs and went west out the White Tiger Gate. Wang Yi, Duke of Hexin, held the carriage and waited outside the gate; Mang mounted it and went to the Gradual Terrace, intending to use the pond water as a barrier, still holding the talismans and the Majesty Dipper, while more than a thousand dukes, ministers, grandees, palace attendants, gentlemen of the Yellow Gate, and other attendants followed him. Wang Yi fought until his men were gone, reached the terrace, and forced his fleeing son back to die with Wang Mang. Soldiers entered the hall, shouting, "Where is the rebel captive Wang Mang?" A concubine came out of a chamber and said, "He is on the Gradual Terrace." They ringed the terrace hundreds deep. Crossbow fire from the terrace thinned the attackers. When shafts ran out, they closed to hand strokes. Wang Yi's father Ping, Que Yun, and Wang Xun were killed; Wang Mang retreated indoors. By afternoon the attackers stormed the terrace; Wang Yi, Zhao Bo, Miao Xin, Tang Zun, Wang Sheng, palace attendant Wang Can, and others died there. The trader Du Wu struck the killing blow and seized the cord of office. Colonel Donghai Gongbin Jiu, former grand march ritualist, saw Wu and asked: "Where is the ribbon's master?" He said: "In the chamber's northwest corner." Gongbin Jiu found Wang Mang and severed his head. The corpse was torn to pieces by dozens claiming the kill. Gongbin Jiu brought the head to Wang Xian. Wang Xian proclaimed himself Han general, seized the eastern palace, took Wang Mang's concubines, and wore imperial gear.
76
六日癸丑，李松、鄧曄入長安，將軍趙萌、申屠建亦至，以王憲得璽綬不輒上、多挾宮女、建天子鼓旗，收斬之。 傳莽首詣更始，懸宛市，百姓共提擊之，或切食其舌。
On guichou Li Song and Deng Ye entered, executed Wang Xian for hoarding the seal, keeping concubines, and flying imperial regalia. The head went to Liu Xuan at Wan, where the mob mutilated it.
77
莽揚州牧李聖、司命孔仁兵敗山東，聖格死，仁將其眾降，已而歎曰：「吾聞食人食者死其事。」 拔劍自刺死。 及曹部監杜普、陳定大尹沈意、九江連率賈萌皆守郡不降，為漢兵所誅。 賞都大尹王欽及郭欽守京師倉，聞莽死，乃降，更始義之，皆封為侯。 太師王匡、國將哀章降雒陽，傳詣宛，斬之。 嚴尤、陳茂敗昆陽下，走至沛郡譙，自稱漢將，召會吏邱。 尤為稱說王莽篡位天時所亡、聖漢復興狀，茂伏而涕泣。 聞故漢鐘武侯劉聖聚眾汝南稱尊號，尤、茂降之。 以尤為大司馬，茂為丞相。 十餘日敗，尤、茂並死。 郡縣皆舉城降，天下悉歸漢。
The troops of Mang's Governor of Yangzhou Li Sheng and Director of Fate Kong Ren were defeated in Shandong. Sheng died fighting, while Ren led his followers in surrender. Afterward he sighed and said, "I have heard that one who eats another man's food dies for his cause." He fell on his sword. Loyal Xin officials who held out were killed. Wang Qin and Guo Qin yielded the granary and were ennobled. Wang Kuang and Ai Zhang were sent to Wan and executed. Yan You and Chen Mao fled to Qiao in Pei, called themselves Han generals, and called a meeting of local clerks. (The last word may read "officers.") Yan You preached the restoration; Chen Mao wept. They joined the pretender Liu Sheng in Runan. Liu Sheng made Yan You grand marshal and Chen Mao chancellor. Within days that regime fell and both men died. The empire went over to Han.
78
初，申屠建嘗事崔發為《詩》，建至，發降之。 後復稱說，建令丞相劉賜斬發以徇。 史諶、王延、王林、王吳、趙閎亦降，復見殺。 初，諸假號兵人人望封侯。 申屠建既斬王憲，又揚言三輔黠共殺其主，吏民惶恐，屬縣屯聚，建等不能下，馳白更始。
Shentu Jian had studied under Cui Fa; Cui Fa surrendered when he arrived. When Cui Fa sermonized again, Shentu Jian had him executed. Other Xin notables who surrendered were killed anyway. Every warlord with a fake commission had hoped for a marquisate. Shentu Jian's rumor that gentry had murdered their lords panicked the capital region until Liu Xuan had to be told.
79
二年二月，更始到長安，下詔大赦，非王莽子，他皆除其罪，故王氏宗族得全。 三輔悉平，更始都長安，居長樂宮。 府藏完具，獨未央宮燒攻莽三日，死則案堵復故。 更始至，歲余政教不行。 明年夏，赤眉樊崇等眾數十萬人入關，立劉盆子，稱尊號，攻更始，更始降之。 赤眉遂燒長安宮室市裡，害更始。 民飢餓相食，死者數十萬，長安為虛，城中無人行。 宗廟園陵皆發掘，唯霸陵、杜陵完。 六月，世祖即位，然後宗廟社稷復立，天下艾安。
In the second month of year 2 Liu Xuan entered Chang'an, pardoned all but Wang Mang's sons, and spared the Wang kin. With the Three Adjuncts pacified, Liu Xuan made Chang'an his capital and took up residence in Changle Palace. Treasuries survived; Weiyang had burned three days during the siege, then stood empty again. His regime stalled within a year. Next summer the Red Eyebrows installed Liu Penzi and forced Liu Xuan to yield. The Red Eyebrows then burned Chang'an's palaces, markets, and wards, and killed Liu Xuan. Famine cannibalism emptied Chang'an. Every tomb was opened save Emperor Wen's and Emperor Xuan's. When Liu Xiu took the throne in the sixth month, order returned to the realm.
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贊曰：「王莽始起外戚，折節力行，以要名譽，宗族稱孝，師友歸仁。 及其居位輔政，成、哀之際，勤勞國家，直道而行，動見稱述。 豈所謂「在家必聞，在國必聞」，「色取仁而行違」者邪？ 莽既不仁而有佞邪之材，又乘四父歷世之權，遭漢中微，國統三絕，而太后壽考為之宗主，故得肆其奸惹，以成篡盜之禍。 推是言之，亦天時，非人力之致矣。 及其竊位南面，處非所據，顛覆之勢險於桀、紂，而莽晏然自以黃、虞復出也。 乃始恣睢，奮其威詐，滔天虐民，窮凶極惡，流毒諸夏，亂延蠻貉，猶未足逞其欲焉。 是以四海之內，囂然喪其樂生之心，中外憤怨，遠近俱發，城池不守，支體分裂，遂令天下城邑為虛，丘□發掘，害遍生民，辜及朽骨，自書傳所載亂臣賊子無道之人，考其禍敗，未有如莽之甚者也。 昔秦燔《詩》、《書》以立私議，莽誦《六藝》以文奸言，同歸殊途，俱用滅亡，皆炕龍絕氣，非命之運，紫色蛙聲，余分閏位，聖王之驅除云爾！」」
The appraisal says: "Wang Mang first rose as a maternal relative. He humbled himself and exerted himself in conduct in order to seek fame and reputation; his clan called him filial, and his teachers and friends credited him with benevolence. As regent under Cheng and Ai he seemed a diligent minister. Was he the hypocrite Confucius warned of—famous for virtue yet false at heart? Without humaneness but with cunning, he exploited the Wang monopoly on power, Han's weak emperors, and a long-lived empress dowager to usurp the throne. His rise owed as much to fate as to talent. On the throne he faced ruin graver than Jie or Zhou yet imagined himself a sage-king reborn. Then he unleashed tyranny, fraud, and slaughter from the heartland to the frontier and still wanted more. Therefore within the four seas there was an uproar, and the people lost their joy in life. Those within and without were angry and resentful; near and far they rose together. Cities and walls could not be defended, the body of the realm was torn apart, cities and towns throughout the empire were made empty, tombs were dug open, harm spread through the living, and guilt reached even rotted bones. Among the rebellious ministers, traitorous sons, and lawless men recorded in books and traditions, none, when his calamity and defeat are examined, was worse than Wang Mang. Qin burned the classics to silence debate; Wang Mang quoted them to cloak tyranny—both perished as heaven's way of sweeping aside false claimants to the throne.”