1
資治通鑑第037卷
Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 37.
2
【漢紀二十九】起屠維大荒落，盡閼逢閹茂，凡六年。
[Han Annals 29] From Tuyang Dahuangluo through Yanfeng Yanmao—six years in all.
3
春，正月，朔，莽帥公侯卿士奉皇太后璽韍上太皇太后，順符命，去漢號焉。
In spring, on the first day's new moon, Wang Mang led dukes, marquises, ministers, and scholars to present the empress dowager's seal and ribbon to the Grand Empress Dowager, follow the talisman mandate, and cast off the Han name.
4
初，莽娶故丞相王訢孫宜春侯咸女為妻，立以為皇后； 生四男，宇、獲前誅死，安頗荒忽，乃以臨為皇太子，安為新嘉辟。 封宇子六人皆為公。 大赦天下。
Earlier Wang Mang had married the daughter of former Chancellor Wang Xin's grandson, Marquis of Yichun Wang Wei, as his wife and made her empress; She bore four sons; Wang Yu and Wang Huo had already been executed; Wang An was rather dissolute—so Wang Lin was made crown prince and Wang An was made Lord of New Jia. All six sons of Wang Yu were enfeoffed as dukes. A general amnesty was proclaimed throughout the realm.
5
莽乃策命孺子為定安公，封以萬戶，地方百里； 立漢祖宗之廟於其國，與周後並行其正朔、服色； 以孝平皇后為定安太后。 讀策畢，莽親執孺子手，流涕歔欷曰：「昔周公攝位，終得復子明辟； 今予獨迫皇天威命，不得如意！」 哀歎良久。 中傅將孺子下殿，北面而稱臣。 百僚陪位，莫不感動。
Wang Mang then issued a mandate naming the Ruzi Liu Ying Duke Who Settles Tranquility, enfeoffing him with ten thousand households and a territory of a hundred li; established temples to the Han ancestral kings in his state, and had him practice the correct calendar and ritual colors jointly with the Zhou successor; and made Empress Xiaoping the Empress Dowager Who Settles Tranquility. When the mandate had been read, Wang Mang personally held the Ruzi's hand, weeping and sighing: "In old times the Duke of Zhou held regency and in the end restored the son to illuminate the throne; now I alone am pressed by Heaven's stern mandate and cannot have my wish!" He mourned and sighed for a long while. The junior tutor led the Ruzi down from the hall; he faced north and declared himself minister. The hundred officials in attendance were all moved.
6
又按金匱封拜輔臣：以太傅、左輔王舜為太師，封安新公； 大司徒平晏為太傅，就新公； 少阿、羲和劉秀為國師，嘉新公； 廣漢梓潼哀章為國將，美新公； 是為四輔，位上公。 太保、後承甄邯為大司馬，承新公； 丕進侯王尋為大司徒，章新公； 步兵將軍王邑為大司空，隆新公； 是為三公。 太阿、右拂、大司空甄豐為更始將軍，廣新公； 京兆王興為衛將軍，奉新公； 輕車將軍孫建為立國將軍，成新公； 京兆王盛為前將軍，崇新公； 是為四將。 凡十一公。
Again according to the Golden Coffer he enfeoffed assisting ministers: Grand Tutor and Left Assistant Wang Shun as Grand Preceptor, enfeoffed as Duke Who Pacifies the New; Grand Minister of Works Ping Yan as Grand Tutor, Duke Who Approaches the New; Junior Tutor and Director of Harmony Liu Xiu as National Master, Duke Who Glorifies the New; Ai Zhang of Guanghan Zitong as National General, Duke Who Beautifies the New; These were the Four Assistants, rank above the Three Dukes. Grand Guardian and Rear Bearer Zhen Han as Grand Minister of War, Duke Who Upholds the New; Marquis of Advance Wang Xun as Grand Minister of Works, Duke Who Manifests the New; General of Foot Soldiers Wang Yi as Grand Minister of Works, Duke Who Elevates the New; These were the Three Dukes. Grand Tutor of the Right, Right Assistant, and Grand Minister of Works Zhen Feng as General Who Renovates Beginnings, Duke Who Broadens the New; Wang Xing of Jingzhao as General Who Guards the Realm, Duke Who Honors the New; General of Light Chariots Sun Jian as General Who Establishes the State, Duke Who Completes the New; Wang Sheng of Jingzhao as Forward General, Duke Who Exalts the New; These were the Four Generals. Eleven dukes in all.
7
王興者，故城門令史； 王盛者，賣餅； 莽按符命求得此姓名十餘人，兩人容貌應卜相，逕從布衣登用，以示神焉。 是日，封拜卿大夫、侍中、尚書官凡數百人，諸劉為郡守者皆徙為諫大夫。
Wang Xing had been a gate-warden clerk; Wang Sheng sold cakes; Wang Mang, according to the talisman mandate, had found more than ten people with these names; two men's appearance matched divinatory physiognomy—he promoted them straight from commoners to show the divine at work. That day he enfeoffed and invested several hundred ministers, grandees, palace attendants, and Masters of Writing; all Liu clan members serving as commandery administrators were transferred to remonstrance grandees.
8
改明光宮為定安館，定安太后居之； 以大鴻臚府為定安公第； 皆置門衛使者監領。 敕阿乳母不得與嬰語，常在四壁中，至於長大，不能名六畜； 後莽以女孫宇子妻之。
He renamed Bright Light Palace as the Hall Who Settles Tranquility, where the Empress Dowager Who Settles Tranquility resided; the Chief Herald's office became the Duke Who Settles Tranquility's residence; all were set with gate guards and envoys to oversee them. He charged the wet-nurses not to speak with the infant, keeping him always within four walls; when he grew up he could not name the six domestic animals; later Wang Mang gave him his granddaughter, Wang Yu's son's wife, in marriage.
9
莽策命群司各以其職，如典誥之文。 置大司馬司允、大司徒司直、大司空司若，位皆孤卿。 更名大司農曰羲和，後更為納言，大理曰作士，太常曰秩宗，大鴻臚曰典樂，少府曰共工，水衡都尉曰予虞，與三公司卿分屬三公。 置二十七大夫，八十一元士，分主中都官諸職。 又更光祿勳等名為六監，皆上卿。 改郡太守曰大尹，都尉曰大尉，縣令、長曰宰。 長樂宮曰常樂室，長安曰常安。 其餘百官、宮室、郡縣盡易其名，不可勝紀。 封王氏齊縗之屬為侯，大功為伯，小功為子，緦麻為男； 其女皆為任。 男以「睦」，女以「隆」為號焉。 又曰：「漢氏諸侯或稱王，至於四夷亦如之，違於古典，繆於一統。 其定諸侯王之號皆稱公，及四夷僭號稱王者皆更為侯。」 於是漢諸侯王二十二人皆降為公，王子侯者百八十一人皆降為子，其後皆奪爵焉。
Wang Mang issued mandates to the host of offices each according to his duty, as in the Documents texts. He established the Grand Minister of War's Director of Compliance, the Grand Minister of Works' Director of Rectitude, and the Grand Minister of Works' Director of Assent—all ranks as solitary ministers. He renamed Grand Minister of Agriculture to Director of Harmony, later again to Receiver of Words; Minister of Justice to Minister of Punishments; Grand Master of Ceremonies to Rank of Ritual; Chief Herald to Director of Music; Privy Treasurer to Minister of Public Works; Chief of Palace Parks to Giver to Yu; and divided the Three Dukes' subsidiary ministers among the Three Dukes. He established twenty-seven grandees and eighty-one primordial scholars to oversee the capital offices' duties. Again he renamed the Superintendent of the Palace and similar offices as six overseers—all upper ministers. He changed commandery administrators to Great Governors, commandants to Great Captains, and county magistrates and chiefs to Magistrates. Changle Palace became Ever-Joy Chamber; Chang'an became Ever-Peace. The rest of the hundred offices, palaces, commanderies, and counties had all their names changed—beyond counting. He enfeoffed Wang clansmen in the highest mourning grade as marquises, the next as earls, the next as viscounts, and the lowest as barons; their daughters all received the title Ren. men took "Mu" and women "Long" as designations. He also said, "Han feudatories sometimes called themselves kings, and even the four barbarians did likewise—contrary to ancient canon and erroneous to unity. Fix all feudatory kings' titles to dukes, and change all four barbarians' presumptuous royal titles to marquises." Thereupon Han's twenty-two kings were all demoted to dukes, and 181 king's sons to viscounts—and later all titles were stripped.
10
莽又封黃帝、少昊、顓頊、帝嚳、堯、舜、夏、商、周及皋陶、伊尹之後皆為公、侯，使各奉其祭祀。
Wang Mang also enfeoffed descendants of Huang Di, Shao Hao, Zhuan Xu, Di Ku, Yao, Shun, Xia, Shang, Zhou, Gao Yao, and Yi Yin—all as dukes and marquises, each to perform their sacrifices.
11
莽因漢承平之業，府庫百官之富，百蠻賓服，天下晏然，莽一朝有之，其心意未滿，狹小漢家制度，欲更為疏闊。 乃自謂黃帝、虞舜之後，至齊王建孫濟北王安失國，齊人謂之王家，因以為氏； 故以黃帝為初祖，虞帝為始祖。 追尊陳胡公曰陳胡王，田敬仲曰齊敬王，濟北王安曰濟北愍王。 立祖廟五、親廟四。 天下姚、媯、陳、田、王五姓皆為宗室，世世復，無有所與。 封陳崇、田豐為侯，以奉胡王、敬王后。
Wang Mang, relying on Han's era of peace, the wealth of treasuries and hundred offices, the hundred barbarians submitting, and a tranquil realm—he possessed it all in one morning yet his mind was not satisfied; he found Han institutions narrow and wished to make them looser and broader. He claimed descent from Huang Di and Yu Shun down to when King Jian's grandson of Qi, King of Jibei Liu An, lost his state—the people of Qi called them the Wang family, hence the surname; therefore he took Huang Di as primordial ancestor and Emperor Yu as founding ancestor. He posthumously honored Duke Hu of Chen as King Hu of Chen, Tian Jingzhong as Reverent King of Qi, and King An of Jibei as Lamented King of Jibei. He established five ancestral temples and four kin temples. The five surnames Yao, Gui, Chen, Tian, and Wang throughout the realm were all made imperial clan—exempt for generations, without levy. He enfeoffed Chen Chong and Tian Feng as marquises to tend the sacrifices after King Hu and King Jing.
12
天下牧、守皆以前有翟義、趙明等作亂，領州郡，懷忠孝，封牧為男，守為附城。 以漢高廟為文祖廟。 漢氏園寢廟在京師者，勿罷，祠薦如故。 諸劉勿解其復，各終厥身； 州牧數存問，勿令有侵冤。
All governors and administrators throughout the realm—because earlier Zhai Yi, Zhao Ming, and others had rebelled yet led states and commanderies with loyalty and filial piety—had governors enfeoffed as barons and administrators as Attached-to-City. He took Han's Gaozu temple as Temple of the Cultural Ancestor. Han clan park tombs and temples in the capital were not abolished; offerings continued as before. The Liu clan were not to lose their exemptions, each to the end of his life; governors were frequently to inquire after them and not let them suffer encroachment or injustice.
13
莽以劉之為字「卯、金、刀」也，詔正月剛卯、金刀之利皆不得行，乃罷錯刀、契刀及五銖錢，更作小錢，逕六分，重一銖，文曰「小錢直一」，與前「大錢五十」者為二品，並行。 欲防民盜鑄，乃禁不得挾銅、炭。
Wang Mang, because the character Liu decomposes as mao, metal, and knife, issued an edict that in the first month the auspiciousness of gang-mao days and metal-knife coinage must not be used; he abolished knife coins, contract knife, and wuzhu cash and minted small cash—six fen in diameter, one zhu in weight, inscribed "small cash worth one"—circulating together with the previous "large cash fifty" as two denominations. Wishing to prevent illicit casting, he banned carrying copper and charcoal.
14
夏，四月，徐鄉侯劉快結黨數千人，起兵於其國。 快兄殷，故漢膠東王，時為扶崇公。 快舉兵攻即墨，殷閉城門，自繫獄。 吏民拒快。 快敗走，至長廣死。 莽赦殷，益其國滿萬戶，地方百里。
In summer, the fourth month, Marquis of Xu Township Liu Kuai rallied several thousand men and raised troops in his state. Kuai's elder brother Liu Yin had been former Han King of Jiaodong, then Duke Who Upholds Glory. Liu Kuai raised troops and attacked Jimo; Liu Yin closed the city gates and imprisoned himself. Officials and people resisted Liu Kuai. Liu Kuai was defeated and fled; he died at Changguang. Wang Mang pardoned Liu Yin and increased his fief to the full ten thousand households and a territory of a hundred li.
15
莽曰：「古者一夫田百畝，什一而稅，則國給民富而頌聲作。 秦壞聖制，廢井田，是以兼併起，貪鄙生，強者規田以千數，弱者曾無立錐之居。 又置奴婢之市，與牛馬同闌，制於民臣，顓斷其命，繆於『天地之性人為貴』之義。 漢氏減輕田租，三十而稅一，常有更賦，罷癃咸出； 而豪民侵陵，分田劫假。 厥名三十稅一，實什稅五也。 故富者犬馬餘菽粟，驕而為邪； 貧者不厭糟糠，窮而為奸。 俱陷於辜，刑用不錯。 今更名天下田曰『王田』，奴婢曰『私屬』，皆不得賣買。 其男口不盈八而田過一井者，分餘田予九族、鄰里、鄉黨。 故無田、今當受田者，如制度。 敢有非井田聖制、無法惑眾者，投諸四裔，以御魑魅，如皇始祖考虞帝故事！」
Wang Mang said, "In antiquity one husbandman farmed a hundred mu and paid one tax in ten—then the state was supplied, the people rich, and songs of praise arose. Qin destroyed the sage institutions and abolished the well-field—therefore land merger arose and greed and baseness were born; the strong amassed fields by the thousands, the weak had not even room to set an awl. They also set a market for slaves and bondmaids in the same pen as cattle and horses, treating them as subjects and monopolizing their lives—erroneous to the meaning of 'Among Heaven and Earth's nature, man is precious. The Han house reduced field rent to one tax in thirty, yet there were constant replacement levies—even the crippled and maimed all paid; yet powerful families encroached and bullied, dividing fields and seizing them on loan. In name it was one tax in thirty; in truth it was one tax in five. Therefore the rich had dogs and horses and surplus grain, grew proud, and turned to wickedness; the poor could not get their fill of chaff, grew desperate, and turned to treachery. Both fell into guilt; punishments were used without cease. Now rename all fields under Heaven 'King's Fields' and slaves and bondmaids 'Private Retainers'—none may be bought or sold. Where male mouths did not reach eight yet fields exceeded one well, divide the surplus among the nine degrees of kin, neighbors, and village associates. Those who formerly had no fields and now ought to receive fields shall do so according to the regulations. Whoever dares oppose the well-field sage institution and confuse the masses without law—cast him to the four borderlands to ward off demons and sprites, as in the precedent of the august founding ancestor Emperor Yu!"
16
秋，遣五威將王奇等十二人班符命四十二篇於天下：德祥五事，符命二十五，福應十二。 五威將奉符命，繼印綬，王侯以下及吏官名更者，外及匈奴、西域、徼外蠻夷，皆即授新室印綬，因收故漢印綬。 大赦天下。 五威將乘乾文車，駕坤六馬，背負敝鳥鳥之毛，服飾甚偉。 每一將各置五帥，將持節，帥持幢。 其東出者至玄菟、樂浪、高句驪、夫餘； 南出都隃徼外，歷益州，改句町王為侯； 西出者至西域，盡改其王為侯； 北出者至匈奴庭，授單于印，改漢印文，去璽曰章。
In autumn he sent twelve men including Five-Power General Wang Qi to distribute forty-two chapters of talisman mandate throughout the realm: five items of virtuous omens, twenty-five talisman mandates, twelve blessing responses. The five-power generals bore the talisman mandate and continued seals and ribbons; marquises and below, officials whose names were changed, and outward to the Xiongnu, Western Regions, and outer-frontier barbarians—all at once received New Dynasty seals and ribbons, and old Han seals were collected. A general amnesty was proclaimed throughout the realm. The five-power generals rode Qian-pattern chariots, drove six Kun horses, bore on their backs the feathers of the worn bird—dress very magnificent. Each general set five commanders; the general held credentials, the commanders held banners. Those going east reached Xuantu, Lelang, Gaogouli, and Puyu; south beyond the Duyu frontier, passing Yizhou, changed the King of Juding to marquis; west to the Western Regions, all their kings changed to marquises; north to the Xiongnu court, invested the Chanyu with a seal, changed the Han seal text, and removed 'xi' so the seal read 'zhang.'
17
冬，雷，桐華。
In winter there was thunder; paulownia bloomed.
18
以統睦侯陳崇為司命，主司察上公以下。 又以說符侯崔發等為中城、四關將軍，主十二城門及繞霤、羊頭、餚黽、汧隴之固，皆以五威冠其號。
Marquis of Tongmu Chen Chong was made Director of Destiny, supervising scrutiny of all below the upper dukes. Also Marquis Who Explains Talismans Cui Fa and others as generals of Middle City and Four Passes, overseeing the twelve city gates and the defenses of Rao Liu, Yangtou, Yaotun, and Qianlong—all with Five-Power crowning their titles.
19
又遣諫大夫五十人分鑄錢於郡國。
He also sent fifty remonstrance grandees to cast cash separately in the commanderies and states.
20
是歲，真定、常山大雨雹。
That year Zhending and Changshan were struck by heavy hail.
21
春，二月，赦天下。
In spring, the second month, an amnesty was proclaimed for the realm.
22
五威將帥七十二人還奏事，漢諸侯王為公者悉上璽綬為民，無違命者。 獨故廣陽王嘉以獻符命，魯王閔以獻神書，中山王成都以獻書言莽德，皆封列侯。
The seventy-two Five-Way Generals and marshals returned to report; every Han feudatory king who had been made a duke surrendered his seal and cord and became a commoner, and none refused. Only the former King Jia of Guangyang, for presenting omens of mandate; King Min of Lu, for presenting divine writings; and King Chengdu of Zhongshan, for presenting writings praising Wang Mang's virtue—all were enfeoffed as full marquises.
23
班固論曰：昔周封國八百，同姓五十有餘，所以親親賢賢，關諸盛衰，深根固本，為不可拔者也。 故盛則周、召相其治，致刑錯； 衰則五伯扶其弱，與共守； 天下謂之共主，強大弗之敢傾。 歷載八百餘年，數極德盡，降為庶人，用天年終。 秦訕笑三代，竊自號為皇帝，而子弟為匹夫，內無骨肉本根之輔，外無尺土籓翼之衛； 陳、吳奮其白梃，劉、項隨而斃之。 故曰，周過其歷，秦不及期，國勢然也。
Ban Gu observed: In antiquity Zhou enfeoffed eight hundred states, more than fifty of them bearing the royal surname, thereby drawing kin close, honoring the worthy, binding them to the dynasty's fortunes, and rooting power so deeply it could not be uprooted. Thus in flourishing times the Duke of Zhou and Duke of Shao assisted in government until punishments fell unused; in decline the Five Hegemons supported its weakness and shared in its defense; all under heaven called Zhou the common lord, and no great power dared overturn it. It endured more than eight hundred years; when its allotted span and virtue were exhausted, the house was reduced to commoners and ended its days by natural death. Qin mocked the Three Dynasties, stole the title of emperor for itself, and left its sons and younger brothers as commoners—within, no kin as a supporting root; without, not a foot of feudal land as a defensive wing; Chen Sheng and Wu Guang raised their plain staves; Liu Bang and Xiang Yu followed and destroyed Qin. Hence the saying: Zhou outlasted its allotted span, Qin fell short of its term—the momentum of state power was simply so.
24
漢興之初，懲戒亡秦孤立之敗，於是尊王子弟，大啟九國。 自雁門以東盡遼陽，為燕、代； 常山以南，太行左轉，渡河、濟，漸於海，為齊、趙； 穀、泗以往，奄有龜、蒙，為梁、楚； 東帶江、湖，薄會稽，為荊、吳； 北界淮瀕，略廬、衡，為淮南； 波漢之陽，亙九嶷，為長沙。 諸侯比境，周匝三垂，外接胡、越。 天子自有三河、東郡、穎川、南陽，自江陵以西至巴、蜀，北自雲中至隴西，與京師、內史，凡十五郡； 公主、列侯頗邑其中。 而籓國大者誇州兼郡，連城數十，宮室、百官同制京師，可謂矯枉過其正矣。
At Han's founding, taking warning from Qin's collapse through isolation, the court honored the emperor's sons and brothers and greatly enfeoffed the nine kingdoms. From Yanmen east to Liaoyang lay Yan and Dai; south of Changshan, where the Taihang turns left, crossing the Yellow River and Ji River toward the sea, were Qi and Zhao; from the Gu and Si rivers onward, holding Gui and Meng mountains, were Liang and Chu; east along the Yangtze and lakes, reaching Kuaiji, were Jing and Wu; north along the Huai, taking in Lu and Heng, was Huainan; along the south bank of the Han, spanning Jiuyi, was Changsha. The feudatories bordered one another, encircling the three frontiers and connecting outward with the Hu and Yue peoples. The Son of Heaven himself held the Three Rivers, Dong, Yingchuan, and Nanyang; from Jiangling west to Ba and Shu; north from Yunzhong to Longxi; together with the capital and Metropolitan Governor—fifteen commanderies in all; princesses and full marquises largely held fiefs within them. Yet the largest feudal states spanned commanderies, linked dozens of cities, and matched the capital in palaces and official ranks—an overcorrection that had passed the proper mean.
25
雖然，高祖創業，日不暇給，孝惠享國又淺，高後女主攝位，而海內晏如，亡狂狡之憂，卒折諸呂之難，成太宗之業者，亦賴之於諸侯也。 然諸侯原本以大末，流濫以致溢，小者淫荒越法，大者睽孤橫逆以害身喪國，故文帝分齊、趙，景帝削吳、楚，武帝下推恩之令而籓國自析。 自此以來，齊分為七，趙分為六，梁分為五，淮南分為三。 皇子始立者，大國不過十餘城。 長沙、燕、代雖有舊名，皆亡南北邊矣。 景遭七國之難，抑損諸侯，減黜其官。 武有衡山、淮南之謀，作左官之律，設附益之法； 諸侯惟得衣食稅租，不與政事。 至於哀、平之際，皆繼體苗裔，親屬疏遠，生於帷牆之中，不為士民所尊，勢與富室亡異。 而本朝短世，國統三絕。 是故王莽知漢中外殫微，本末俱弱，無所忌憚，生其奸心，因母后之權，假伊、周之稱，顓作威福廟堂之上，不降階序而運天下。 詐謀既成，遂據南面之尊，分遣五威之吏，馳傳天下，班行符命。 漢諸侯王厥角稽首，奉上璽□，惟恐在後； 或乃稱美頌德以求容媚，豈不哀哉！
Even so, while Gaozu was founding the dynasty with no day to spare, Emperor Xiaohui's reign was brief, and Empress Gao ruled as regent, the realm remained tranquil without fear of rebellion; the eventual suppression of the Lü clan and completion of Emperor Wen's achievement also relied on the feudatories. Yet the feudatories' roots had been large and their branches small, until overflow became excess—small states grew dissolute and lawless, great ones turned defiant and ruined themselves and their kingdoms; therefore Emperor Wen divided Qi and Zhao, Emperor Jing reduced Wu and Chu, and Emperor Wu issued the grace-extending decree by which the feudal states split of their own accord. From this time onward Qi was divided into seven parts, Zhao into six, Liang into five, and Huainan into three. When imperial sons were first enfeoffed, even a great state had no more than a dozen cities. Changsha, Yan, and Dai kept their old names but had lost their northern and southern marches. Under Emperor Jing came the crisis of the Seven States; the court suppressed the feudatories and reduced their offices. Under Emperor Wu came the plots of Hengshan and Huainan; he enacted the law of left officials and established the law against increasing holdings; feudatories received only clothing, food, and tax revenues, and took no part in government. By the reigns of Emperors Ai and Ping, the feudal lords were all heirs of distant kin, born behind palace curtains, no longer honored by scholars and commoners, and their position differed little from that of wealthy families. Moreover the Han house was short-lived, and the imperial line thrice died out. Therefore Wang Mang saw that Han was exhausted within and without, root and branch alike weakened, with nothing left to fear; he conceived his treacherous design, relied on the empress dowager's power, borrowed the titles of Yi Yin and the Duke of Zhou, wielded authority alone in the court hall, and moved the realm without descending a single step of the throne. When his deceitful plot succeeded, he took the throne facing south, dispatched Five-Way officers throughout the realm by post relay, and distributed omens of mandate everywhere. Han feudatory kings prostrated themselves and kowtowed, presenting their seals □, each fearing to be last; some even praised his virtue to win favor—how lamentable!
26
國師公劉秀言：「周有泉府之官，收不售，與欲得，即《易》所謂『理財正辭，禁民為非』者也。」 莽乃下詔曰：「《周禮》有賒貸，《樂語》有五均，傳記各有筦焉。 今開賒貸、張五均、設諸筦者，所以齊眾庶，抑並兼也。」 遂於長安及洛陽、邯鄲、臨菑、宛、成都立五均司市、錢府官。 司市常以四時仲月定物上中下之賈，各為其市平。 民賣五穀、布帛、絲綿之物不售者，均官考檢厥實，用其本賈取之； 物貴過平一錢，則以平賈賣與民； 賤減平者，聽民自相與市。 又民有乏絕欲賒貸者，錢府予之； 每月百錢收息三錢。 又以《周官》稅民，凡田不耕為不殖，出三夫之稅； 城郭中宅不樹藝者為不毛，出三夫之布； 民浮游無事，出夫布一匹； 其不能出布者冗作，縣官衣食之。 諸取金、銀、連、錫、鳥、獸、魚、鱉於山林、水澤及畜牧者，嬪婦桑蠶、織紝、紡績、補縫，工匠、醫、巫、卜、祝及它方技，商販、賈人，皆各自佔所為，於其在所之縣官，除其本，計其利十一分之，而以其一為貢； 敢不自佔，自佔不以實者，盡沒入所採取而作縣官一歲。 羲和魯匡復奏請榷酒酤，莽從之。 又禁民不得挾弩、鎧，犯者徙西海。
State Mentor Duke Liu Xiu said: "Zhou had the treasury-spring office, buying what would not sell and supplying what people wished to obtain—this is what the Changes means by 'ordering wealth and rectifying speech, forbidding the people from wrongdoing.'" Wang Mang then issued an edict: "The Rites of Zhou provide for lending on credit; the Music Discourses describe the five equalizations; and the chronicles each mention their monopolies. Now to open lending on credit, spread the five equalizations, and establish the various monopolies is to level the common people and suppress consolidation of wealth." Thereupon at Chang'an, Luoyang, Handan, Linzi, Wan, and Chengdu he established five-equalization market directors and treasury offices. Market directors each quarter set upper, middle, and lower prices for goods and fixed the fair market price for their city. When commoners could not sell grain, cloth, silk, or floss, equalization officers verified the goods and purchased them at cost; if a good's price exceeded the fair price by even one cash, they sold it to the people at the fair price; if it fell below the fair price, the people were allowed to trade among themselves. Moreover when commoners were destitute and wished to borrow on credit, the treasury office lent to them; charging three cash interest per month on every hundred cash lent. He also taxed the people under the Zhou Offices model: any field left uncultivated was deemed 'unfarmed' and taxed at three households' rate; urban dwellings that planted no crops were deemed 'bald' and paid three households' cloth tax; idle commoners with no occupation paid one bolt of cloth; those unable to pay cloth were put to public labor and fed and clothed by the commandery. All who took gold, silver, alloys, tin, birds, beasts, fish, and turtles from mountains, forests, and waters, or who raised livestock; palace women engaged in sericulture, weaving, spinning, and sewing; artisans, physicians, shamans, diviners, invocators, and other specialists; peddlers and merchants—all had to register their occupations with the local commandery, deduct capital, pay one-eleventh of profits, and submit one part of that as tribute; anyone who failed to register, or registered falsely, had all he gathered confiscated and was bound to serve the commandery for one year. Director of Astronomy Lu Kuang again memorialized requesting a state monopoly on wine; Wang Mang approved it. He also forbade commoners to carry crossbows and armor; offenders were banished to West Sea.
27
初，莽既班四條於匈奴，後護烏桓使者告烏桓民，毋得復與匈奴皮布稅。 匈奴遣使者責稅，收烏桓酋豪，縛，倒懸之。 酋豪兄弟怒，共殺匈奴使。 單于聞之，發左賢王兵入烏桓，攻擊之，頗殺人民，驅婦女弱小且千人去，置左地，告烏桓曰：「持馬畜皮布來贖之！」 烏桓持財畜往贖，匈奴受，留不遣。 及五威將帥王駿等六人至匈奴，重遺單于金帛，諭曉以受命代漢狀，因易單于故印。 故印文曰「匈奴單于璽」，莽更曰「新匈奴單于章」。 將率既至，授單于印紱，詔令上故印紱。 單于再拜受詔。 譯前，欲解取故印紱，單于舉掖授之。 左姑夕侯蘇從旁謂單于曰：「未見新印文，宜且勿與。」 單于止，不肯與。 請使者坐穹廬，單于欲前為壽。 五威將曰：「故印紱當以時上。」 單于曰：「諾。」 復舉掖授譯，蘇復曰：「未見印文，且勿與。」 單于曰：「印文何由變更！」 遂解故印紱奉上將帥，受著新紱，不解視印。 飲食至夜，乃罷。 右帥陳饒謂諸將帥曰：「向者姑夕侯疑印文，幾令單于不與人。 如令視印，見其變改，必求故印，此非辭說所能距也。 既得而復失之，辱命莫大焉！ 不如椎破故印以絕禍根。」 將帥猶與，莫有應者。 饒，燕士，果悍，即引斧椎壞之。 明日，單于果遣右骨都侯當白將帥曰：「漢單于印言『璽』不言『章』，又無『漢』字； 諸王已下乃有『漢』，言『章』。 今即去『璽』加『新』，與臣下無別。 願得故印。」 將帥示以故印，謂曰：「新室順天製作，故印隨將帥所自為破壞。 單于宜承天命，奉新室之制！」 當還白，單于知已無可奈何，又多得賂遺，即遣弟右賢王輿奉馬牛隨將帥入謝，因上書求故印。 將帥還到左犁汙王咸所居地，見烏桓民多，以問咸； 咸具言狀。 將帥曰：「前封四條，不得受烏桓降者。 亟還之！」 咸曰：「請密與單于相聞，得語，歸之」。 單于使咸報曰：「當從塞內還之邪，從塞外還之邪？」 將帥不敢顓決，以聞。 詔報：「從塞外還之。」 莽悉封五威將為子，帥為男； 獨陳饒以破璽之功，封威德子。
Earlier, after Wang Mang had promulgated the four articles to the Xiongnu, the Protector of Wuhuan later told the Wuhuan people they must no longer pay the Xiongnu the fur-and-cloth tax. The Xiongnu sent envoys to demand the tax, seized Wuhuan chieftains, bound them, and hung them upside down. The chieftains' brothers were enraged and together killed the Xiongnu envoy. When the chanyu heard of it, he sent the Left Wise King's troops into Wuhuan to attack, killed many people, and drove off nearly a thousand women, children, and the weak to the Left Territory, telling the Wuhuan: "Bring horses, livestock, fur, and cloth to ransom them!" The Wuhuan brought wealth and livestock to ransom them; the Xiongnu accepted the payment but refused to release the captives. When the Five-Way Generals and marshals Wang Jun and five others reached the Xiongnu, they again presented the chanyu with gold and silk, explained that they had received mandate to replace Han, and replaced the chanyu's former seal. The former seal read 'Seal of the Chanyu of the Xiongnu'; Wang Mang changed it to 'Seal of the Chanyu of the New Xiongnu.' When the generals and marshals arrived, they presented the chanyu with the new seal and cord and ordered him to surrender the old seal and cord. The chanyu bowed twice and received the edict. The interpreter stepped forward to unfasten and take the old seal and cord; the chanyu raised his sleeve and handed them over. Left Guxi Marquis Su said from the side to the chanyu: "You have not yet seen the new seal's inscription; for now you ought not to hand them over." The chanyu stopped and refused to hand them over. He invited the envoys to sit in the yurt and prepared to advance and toast them. The Five-Way General said: "The old seal and cord ought to be submitted promptly." The chanyu said: "Agreed." He again raised his sleeve and handed them to the interpreter; Su again said: "You have not seen the inscription; for now do not give them." The chanyu said: "How could the seal's text have been changed!" Thereupon he unfastened the old seal and cord and presented them to the generals and marshals, received and attached the new cord, and did not unfasten it to examine the seal. Feasting continued until night before it ended. Right marshal Chen Rao said to the generals and marshals: "Just now Guxi Marquis doubted the seal's text and nearly kept the chanyu from handing them over. If he had been made to look at the seal and saw it changed, he would certainly demand the old one—no argument could refuse that. To obtain them and then lose them again would be the greatest disgrace to our mission! Better to smash the old seal with a mallet and cut off trouble at the root." The generals and marshals hesitated; none responded. Rao, a man of Yan, was resolute and fierce; he immediately took axe and mallet and destroyed it. The next day the chanyu sent Right Gudu Marquis Dang to tell the generals and marshals: "The Han chanyu's seal said 'seal' and not 'stamp,' and bore no character 'Han'; only from kings downward bore 'Han' and said 'stamp.' Now you have removed 'seal' and added 'new,' making no distinction from my subjects. I wish to have the old seal back." The generals and marshals showed him the broken seal and said: "The New House follows Heaven in establishing institutions; the old seal was destroyed by the generals and marshals of their own accord. The chanyu ought to receive Heaven's mandate and follow the New House's institutions!" Dang returned and reported; the chanyu knew he was helpless, and having received many gifts besides, sent his younger brother Right Wise King Yu with horses and cattle to follow the generals and marshals in to apologize and submit a memorial requesting the old seal. On their return the generals and marshals reached the dwelling place of Left Lichan King Xian, saw many Wuhuan people there, and questioned Xian; Xian reported the full circumstances. The generals and marshals said: "The four articles we promulgated forbid accepting Wuhuan who submit. Return them at once!" Xian said: "Please communicate privately with the chanyu; once word is received, they will be returned." The chanyu sent Xian to reply: "Should they be returned from within the passes or from outside the passes?" The generals and marshals dared not decide alone and reported upward. An edict replied: "Return them from outside the passes." Wang Mang enfeoffed all Five-Way Generals as viscounts and marshals as barons; only Chen Rao, for breaking the seal, was enfeoffed as Viscount of Weide.
28
單于始用夏侯籓求地，有拒漢語，後以求稅烏桓不得，因寇略其人民，釁由是生，重以印文改易，故怨恨。 乃遣右大且渠蒲呼盧訾等十餘人將兵眾萬騎，以護送烏桓為名，勒兵朔方塞下，朔方太守以聞。 莽以廣新公甄豐為右伯，當出西域。 車師後王須置離聞之，憚於供給煩費，謀亡入匈奴； 都護但欽召置離，斬之。 置離兄輔國侯狐蘭支將置離眾二千餘人，亡降匈奴。 單于受之，遣兵與狐蘭支共入寇，擊車師，殺後城長，傷都護司馬，及狐蘭兵復還入匈奴。 時戊己校尉刁護病，史陳良、終帶、司馬丞韓玄、右曲候任商相與謀曰：「西域諸國頗背叛，匈奴欲大侵，要死，可殺校尉，帥人眾降匈奴。」 遂殺護及其子男、昆弟，盡脅略戊己校尉吏士男女二千餘人入匈奴。 單于號良、帶曰烏賁都尉。
The chanyu had first used Xiahou Fan to seek land and spoke defiance toward Han; later, denied the Wuhuan tax, he raided and seized Wuhuan people—provocation arose from this—and added to the change of the seal's text, he nursed resentment. He then sent Right Grand Jichu Puhuluzhi and more than ten others at the head of ten thousand horsemen, under the pretext of escorting the Wuhuan home, to mass troops below the Shuofang frontier; the Administrator of Shuofang reported it. Wang Mang appointed Duke of Broad Renewal Zhen Feng as Right Earl, who was to campaign into the Western Regions. The King of Rear Cheshi, Xu Zhili, heard of it and feared the trouble and expense of supplying the Han; he plotted to flee into the Xiongnu; Protector General Dan Qin summoned Xu Zhili and beheaded him. Xu Zhili's elder brother, Marquis Who Assists the State Hu Lanzhi, led more than two thousand of Xu Zhili's followers and fled to surrender to the Xiongnu. The chanyu received them, sent troops with Hu Lanzhi to invade Cheshi, killed the chief of Houcheng, wounded the Protector General's major, and then Hu Lan's troops returned into the Xiongnu. At the time Wuji Colonel Diao Hu was ill; clerk Chen Liang, Zhong Dai, assistant major Han Xuan, and right-bend commander Ren Shang plotted together, saying, "The Western Region states have largely rebelled and the Xiongnu intend a major invasion; facing death, we can kill the colonel and lead the people to surrender to the Xiongnu." Thereupon they killed Hu, his sons, and brothers, and drove more than two thousand Wuji colonel officials and soldiers, men and women, into the Xiongnu. The chanyu styled Liang and Dai Wuben Colonels.
29
冬，十一月，立國將軍孫建奏：「九月辛巳，陳良、終帶自稱廢漢大將軍，亡入匈奴。 又今月癸酉，不知何一男子遮臣建車前，自稱『漢氏劉子輿，成帝下妻子也。 劉氏當復，趣空宮！』 收系男子，即常安姓武字仲。 皆逆天違命，大逆無道。 漢氏宗廟不當在常安城中，及諸劉當與漢俱廢。 陛下至仁，久未定，前故安眾侯劉崇等更聚眾謀反，今狂狡之虜復依托亡漢，至犯夷滅連未止者，此聖恩不蚤絕其萌芽故也。 臣請漢氏諸廟在京師者皆罷； 諸劉為吏者皆罷，待除於家。」 莽曰：「可。 嘉新公、國師以符命為予四輔，明德侯劉龔、率禮侯劉嘉等凡三十二人，皆知天命，或獻天符，或貢昌言，或捕告反虜，厥功茂焉。 諸劉與三十二人同宗共祖者，勿罷，賜姓曰王。」 唯國師以女配莽子，故不賜姓。
In winter, the eleventh month, Establish-the-State General Sun Jian memorialized: "On xinsi in the ninth month, Chen Liang and Zhong Dai styled themselves Grand Generals Who Abolished Han and fled into the Xiongnu. Moreover on guiyou this month, some unknown man blocked my carriage ahead and declared himself 'Liu Ziyu of the House of Han, son of Emperor Cheng's younger consort.' The Liu clan is to be restored—hurry and empty the palace!" He seized and bound the man, who turned out to be surnamed Wu, styled Zhong, of Chang'an. All rebelled against Heaven and contravened fate—great impiety and lawlessness. The temples of the House of Han ought not remain in Chang'an, and all the Liu ought to be abolished together with Han. Your Majesty is supremely humane and long has not decided; formerly Marquis of Anzhong Liu Chong and others again gathered crowds and plotted rebellion; now fierce traitors again rely on the abolished Han and offenses of extermination continue without end—this is because sagely grace did not cut them off at the bud. Your subject requests that all Han clan temples in the capital be discontinued; all Liu serving as officials be dismissed and await removal at home." Wang Mang said, "Approved. The Duke of Glorious Newness and the Director of the State, with mandate-omens as my Four Assistants, Marquis of Illustrious Virtue Liu Gong, Marquis Who Leads Ritual Liu Jia, and thirty-two men in all, all know Heaven's mandate—some presented Heaven's tallies, some offered auspicious words, some captured and reported rebels—their merit is abundant. Liu who share clan and ancestor with the thirty-two are not to be dismissed; grant them the surname Wang." Only the Director of the State, because his daughter was matched to Wang Mang's son, was not granted the surname.
30
定安公太后自劉氏之廢，常稱疾不朝會。 時年未二十，莽敬憚傷哀，欲嫁之，乃更號曰黃皇室主，欲絕之於漢； 令孫建世子盛飾，將醫往問疾。 後大怒，笞鞭其傍侍御，因發病，不肯起。 莽遂不復強也。
The Grand Duchess of Pacified Tranquility, the empress dowager, since the abolition of the Liu clan constantly claimed illness and did not attend court. She was not yet twenty; Wang Mang respected, feared, and grieved for her, wished to marry her off, and changed her title to Grand Imperial Lady of Yellow Lineage, wishing to sever her from Han; he ordered Sun Jian's heir apparent Sheng to dress splendidly and lead a physician to inquire after her illness. She was greatly angered, flogged the attendant women beside her, then fell ill and would not rise. Wang Mang thereupon no longer pressed her.
31
十二月，雷。
In the twelfth month, there was thunder.
32
莽恃府庫之富，欲立威匈奴，乃更名匈奴單于曰「降奴服於」，下詔遣立國將軍孫建等率十二將分道並出：五威將軍苗訢、虎賁將軍王況出五原； 厭難將軍陳欽、震狄將軍王巡出雲中； 振武將軍王嘉、平狄將軍王萌出代郡； 相威將軍李棽、鎮遠將軍李翁出西河； 誅貉將軍楊俊、討濊將軍嚴尤出漁陽； 奮武將軍王駿、定胡將軍王晏出張掖； 及偏裨以下百八十人，募天下囚徒、丁男、甲卒三十萬人，轉輸衣裘、兵器、糧食，自負海江、淮至北邊，使者馳傳督趣，以軍興法從事。 先至者屯邊郡，須畢具乃同時出； 窮追匈奴，內之丁令。 分其國土人民以為十五，立呼韓邪子孫十五人皆為單于。
Wang Mang relied on the wealth of the treasury, wished to establish awe over the Xiongnu, and renamed the Xiongnu chanyu "Subjugated-Slave-Who-Serves"; he issued an edict sending Establish-the-State General Sun Jian and others with twelve generals to march by separate routes: Five-August General Miao Xin and Tiger-Corpus General Wang Kuang from Wuyuan; Overcome-Difficulty General Chen Qin and Quake-the-Di General Wang Xun from Yunzhong; Shake-Martial General Wang Jia and Pacify-the-Di General Wang Meng from Dai Commandery; Mutual-Awe General Li Fen and Pacify-Distant General Li Weng from Xihe; Execute-Polecat General Yang Jun and Pacify-the-Mo General Yan You from Yuyang; Strive-Martial General Wang Jun and Pacify-the-Hu General Wang Yan from Zhangye; and one hundred eighty subordinate officers, recruited three hundred thousand convicts, laborers, and armored troops from across the realm, and transported clothing, weapons, and grain from the coast and the Jiang-Huai north to the border; messengers rode express relays to hurry them, proceeding under military exigency law. Those who arrived first encamped in the border commanderies and were to wait until all was ready before marching out together; pursue the Xiongnu to the utmost and drive them within to the Dingling. Divide their territory and people into fifteen parts and establish fifteen of Huhanye's descendants as chanyus.
33
莽以錢幣訖不行，復下書曰：「寶貨皆重則小用不給，皆輕則僦載煩費； 輕重大小各有差品，則用便而民樂。」 於是更作金、銀、龜、貝、錢、布之品，名曰寶貨。 錢貨六品，金貨一品，銀貨二品，龜貨四品，貝貨五品，布貨十品，凡寶貨五物、六名、二十八品。 鑄作錢布，皆用銅，殽以連、錫。 百姓潰亂，其貨不行。 莽知民愁，乃但行小錢直一與大錢五十，二品並行； 龜、貝、布屬且寢。 盜鑄錢者不可禁，乃重其法，一家鑄錢，五家坐之，沒入為奴婢。 吏民出入持錢，以副符傳，不持者廚傳勿捨，關津苛留。 公卿皆持以入宮殿門，欲以重而行之。 是時百姓便安漢五銖錢，以莽錢大小兩行，難知，又數變改，不信，皆私以五銖錢市買； 訛言大錢當罷，莫肯挾。 莽患之，復下書：「諸挾五銖錢、言大錢當罷者，比非井田制，投四裔！」 及坐賣買田宅、奴婢、鑄錢，自諸侯、卿大夫至於庶民，抵罪者不可勝數。 於是農商失業，食貨俱廢，民人至涕泣於市道。
Because Wang Mang's currency altogether would not circulate, he again issued a document, saying, "If treasure goods are all heavy, petty transactions are not supplied; if all light, transport is burdensome; if light and heavy, great and small each have graded kinds, use is convenient and the people rejoice." Thereupon he remade the kinds of gold, silver, tortoise, shell, cash, and cloth, naming them treasure goods. Cash goods six kinds, gold one, silver two, tortoise four, shell five, cloth ten—in all five substances, six names, twenty-eight kinds of treasure goods. Cash and cloth were all cast in copper alloyed with lead and tin. The common people were in chaos; the currency did not circulate. Wang Mang knew the people were distressed and circulated only small cash worth one and large cash worth fifty, the two kinds together; tortoise, shell, and cloth kinds were for the time set aside. Counterfeiting could not be stopped; he then weighted the law—if one household cast cash, five households were implicated and confiscated as slave girls. Officials and people carrying cash when going out had to have secondary tally passes; those without them were refused lodging at inns, and passes and fords detained them harshly. Dukes and ministers all had to carry them to enter palace gates, wishing thereby to give the rule weight. At this time the people were comfortable with Han five-zhu cash; because Wang Mang's cash came in large and small denominations, hard to distinguish, and was repeatedly changed, they did not trust it and all privately used five-zhu cash in trade; rumors spread that large cash would be abolished, and none would carry it. Wang Mang was distressed and again issued a document: "All who hoard five-zhu cash or say large cash will be abolished are to be treated like opponents of the well-field system and cast out to the four borderlands!" And for selling and buying land, houses, slave girls, and casting cash—from feudal lords and chief ministers down to commoners—those convicted were beyond counting. Thereupon farmers and merchants lost their occupations, food and goods were both abandoned, and people wept in the market streets.
34
莽之謀篡也，吏民爭為符命，皆得封侯。 其不為者相戲曰：「獨無天帝除書乎？」 司命陳崇白莽曰：「此開奸臣作福之路而亂天命，宜絕其原。」 莽亦厭之，遂使尚書大夫趙並驗治，非五威將率所班，皆下獄。
When Wang Mang was plotting usurpation, officials and people vied to produce mandate-omens—all obtained enfeoffment as marquises. Those who did not were mocked: "You alone have no Heavenly Emperor removal document?" Director of Fate Chen Chong reported to Wang Mang: "This opens the road for treacherous ministers to make their own fortune and confuses Heaven's mandate—its source ought to be cut off." Wang Mang also grew weary of it and sent Grandee of the Masters of Writing Zhao Bing to investigate; all not issued by the Five-August generals were imprisoned.
35
初，甄豐、劉秀、王舜為莽腹心，倡導在位，褒揚功德； 安漢、宰衡之號及封莽母、兩子、兄子，皆豐等所共謀，而豐、舜、秀亦受其賜，並富貴矣，非復欲令莽居攝也。 居攝之萌，出於泉陵侯劉慶、前輝光謝囂、長安令田終術。 莽羽翼已成，意欲稱攝，豐等承順其意； 莽輒復封舜、秀、豐等子孫以報之。 豐等爵位已盛，心意既滿，又實畏漢宗室、天下豪桀。 而疏遠欲進者並作符命，莽遂據以即真，舜、秀內懼而已。 豐素剛強，莽覺其不說，故托符命文，徙豐為更始將軍，與賣餅兒王盛同列； 豐父子默默。 時子尋為侍中、京兆大尹、茂德侯，即作符命：新室當分陝，立二伯，以豐為右伯，太傅平晏為左伯，如周、召故事。 莽即從之，拜豐為右伯。 當述職西出，未行，尋復作符命，言故漢氏平帝后黃皇室主為尋之妻。 莽以詐立，心疑大臣怨謗，欲震威以懼下，因是發怒曰：「黃皇室主天下母，此何謂也！」 收捕尋。 尋亡，豐自殺。 尋隨方士入華山，歲餘，捕得，辭連國師公秀子侍中、隆威侯棻，棻弟右曹、長水校尉、伐虜侯泳，大司空邑弟左關將軍、掌威侯奇，及秀門人侍中、騎都尉丁隆等，牽引公卿黨、親、列侯以下，死者數百人。 乃流棻於幽州，放尋於三危，殛隆於羽山，皆驛車載其屍傳致云。
Initially Zhen Feng, Liu Xiu, and Wang Shun were Wang Mang's intimate advisers, promoting him in office and praising his merit; the titles Lord Who Pacifies Han and Chief Minister and Balancer and the enfeoffment of Wang Mang's mother, two sons, and nephew were all plotted by Feng and the others, and Feng, Shun, and Xiu likewise received rewards and were all rich and noble—they no longer wished Wang Mang to occupy the regency. The move toward the regency came from Marquis of Quanling Liu Qing, former Director of Splendid Brightness Xie Ao, and Chang'an magistrate Tian Zhongshu. Wang Mang's power was already complete; he intended to take the title Acting Emperor; Feng and others complied with his intent; Wang Mang repeatedly enfeoffed the descendants of Shun, Xiu, and Feng in return. Feng and others' ranks were already great and their ambitions satisfied, and they truly feared the Han imperial clan and the realm's powerful men. While outsiders seeking advancement all produced mandate-omens, Wang Mang relied on them to assume the throne; Shun and Xiu were inwardly afraid only. Feng was by nature firm and strong; Wang Mang perceived his displeasure and, on the pretext of mandate-omen texts, transferred Feng to Gengshi General, ranked with the pancake-selling lad Wang Sheng; Feng and his son fell silent. At the time his son Xun was attendant within, metropolitan grandee, and Marquis of Maode—he thereupon produced a mandate-omen: the New House ought to divide Shan and establish two earls, making Feng right earl and Grand Tutor Ping Yan left earl, after the Zhou Duke of Zhou and Duke of Shao. Wang Mang at once followed it and appointed Feng right earl. When about to go west on duty, before he had departed, Xun again produced a mandate-omen saying the former Han Ping Emperor's empress, Grand Lady of Yellow Lineage, was to be Xun's wife. Wang Mang, having seized power by fraud, suspected that ministers murmured against him and wished to shake them with awe; he thereupon grew angry, saying, "Grand Lady of Yellow Lineage is mother to all under Heaven—what is this supposed to mean!" He arrested Xun. Xun fled; Feng killed himself. More than a year later Xun was captured on Mount Hua with a magician; his testimony implicated Director of the State Duke Xiu's son, attendant within and Marquis of Longwei Fen, Fen's younger brother of the right bureau, colonel of the Long Waterway, and Marquis Who Subdues Captives Yong, Grand Minister of Works Yi's younger brother, left pass general and Commander of Prestige Marquis Qi, and Xiu's disciple, attendant within and commandant of horse escort Ding Long, among others—dragging in ministers' factions, kin, and ranked marquises; those who died numbered several hundred. Thereupon Fen was exiled to Youzhou, Xun banished to Sanwei, and Long executed at Yushan—all said to have been conveyed by relay carriage with their corpses to the destinations.
36
是歲，莽始興神仙事，以方士蘇樂言，起八風台，台成萬金； 又種五粱禾於殿中，先以寶玉漬種，計粟斛成一金。
That year Wang Mang first undertook immortalist affairs; on the words of magician Su Le he built the Eight-Winds Terrace, which cost ten thousand in gold; he also planted five-grain millet in the palace hall, first steeping the seed in jade and gems, reckoning that a bushel of grain should yield a unit of gold.
37
遣田禾將軍趙並發戍卒屯田五原、北假，以助軍糧。
He sent General of the Fields Zhao Bing to dispatch garrison troops to farm at Wuyuan and Beijia to aid army grain supplies.
38
莽遣中郎將藺苞、副校尉戴級將兵萬騎，多繼珍寶至雲中塞下，招誘呼韓邪單于諸子，欲以次拜為十五單于。 苞、級使譯出塞，誘呼右犁汙王咸、咸子登、助三人。 至則脅拜咸為孝單于，助為順單于，皆厚加賞賜； 傳送助、登長安。 莽封苞為宣威公，拜為虎牙將軍； 封級為揚威公，拜為虎賁將軍。 單于聞之，怒曰：「先單于受漢宣帝恩，不可負也。 今天子非宣帝子孫，何以得立！」 遣左骨都侯、右伊秩訾王呼盧訾及左賢王樂將兵入雲中益壽塞，大殺吏民。 是後，單于歷告左右部都尉、諸邊王入塞寇盜，大輩萬餘，中輩數千，少者數百，殺雁門、朔方太守、都尉，略吏民畜產，不可勝數，緣邊虛耗。
Wang Mang sent palace gentleman Lin Bao and vice-colonel Dai Ji with more than ten thousand cavalry and many precious goods to below Yunzhong Pass to entice Huhanye Chanyu's sons, wishing to invest them in order as fifteen chanyus. Bao and Ji sent interpreters beyond the pass to entice Right Hulu King Xian, Xian's son Deng, and Zhu—all three. When they arrived they coerced them to invest Xian as Filial Chanyu and Zhu as Compliant Chanyu and richly rewarded them; they sent Zhu and Deng to Chang'an. Wang Mang enfeoffed Bao as Duke Who Proclaims Awe and appointed him Tiger's-Fang General; he enfeoffed Ji as Duke Who Raises Awe and appointed him Tiger-Corpus General. The chanyu heard of it and angrily said, "Former chanyus received Emperor Xuan's grace—it cannot be betrayed. Today's Son of Heaven is not Emperor Xuan's descendant—how can he be established!" He sent the left bone-duke, right Yizhi king Huguze, and left wise king Le to lead troops into Yunzhong at Yishou Pass and slaughter officials and people on a great scale. Thereafter the chanyu repeatedly ordered left and right wing commandants and border kings to raid the passes—large bands of more than ten thousand, medium bands of several thousand, small bands of several hundred; they killed Yanmen and Shuofang administrators and commandants and plundered officials, people, and livestock beyond counting; the border was emptied.
39
是時諸將在邊，以大眾未集，未敢出擊匈奴。 討濊將軍嚴尤諫曰：「臣聞匈奴為害，所從來久矣，未聞上世有必征之者也。 後世三家周、秦、漢征之，然皆未有得上策者也。 周得中策，漢得下策，秦無策焉。 當周宣王時，獫狁內侵，至於涇陽； 命將征之，盡境而還。 其視戎狄之侵，譬猶蚊虻，驅之而已，故天下稱明，是為中策。 漢武帝選將練兵，約繼輕糧，深入遠戍，雖有克獲之功，胡輒報之。 兵連禍結三十餘年，中國罷耗，匈奴亦創艾，而天下稱武，是為下策。 秦始皇不忍小恥而輕民力，築長城之固，延袤萬里，轉輸之行，起於負海； 疆境既完，中國內竭，以喪社稷，是為無策。 今天下遭陽九之厄，比年饑饉，西北邊尤甚。 發三十萬眾，具三百日糧，東援海、代，南取江、淮，然後乃備。 計其道里，一年尚未集合，兵先至者聚居暴露，師老械弊，勢不可用，此一難也。 邊既空虛，不能奉軍糧，內調郡國，不相及屬，此二難也。 計一人三百日食，用□十八斛，非牛力不能勝； 牛又當自繼食，加二十斛，重矣。 胡地沙鹵，多乏水草，以往事揆之，軍出未滿百日，牛必物故且盡，餘糧尚多，人不能負，此三難也。 胡地秋冬甚寒，春夏甚風，多繼釜鍑、薪炭，重不可勝，食□飲水，以歷四時，師有疾疫之憂，是故前世伐胡不過百日，非不欲久，勢力不能，此四難也。 輜重自隨，則輕銳者少，不得疾行，虜徐遁逃，勢不能及。 幸而逢虜，又累輜重； 如遇險阻，銜尾相隨，虜要遮前後，危殆不測，此五難也。 大用民力，功不可必立，臣伏憂之。 今既發兵，宜縱先至者，令臣尤等深入霆擊，且以創艾胡虜。」 莽不聽尤言，轉兵谷如故，天下騷動。
At this time the generals were at the border; because the main force was not yet assembled, they did not dare attack the Xiongnu. Pacify-the-Mo General Yan You remonstrated, saying, "Your subject has heard that Xiongnu harm has been longstanding; I have not heard that high antiquity had campaigns that had to be fought. Later the three dynasties Zhou, Qin, and Han campaigned against them, yet none obtained the best policy. Zhou obtained the middle policy, Han the lower, and Qin had no policy at all. In the time of King Xuan of Zhou, the Xianyun invaded within as far as Jingyang; he ordered generals to campaign; they cleared the border and returned. They treated Rong and Di invasions like mosquitoes and gadflies—merely drive them off; thus the realm called it enlightened policy—this is the middle policy. Emperor Wu of Han selected generals, trained troops, sent light supply columns, and garrisoned far frontiers—though there were victories, the Hu always struck back. War dragged on more than thirty years; the central lands were exhausted and the Xiongnu also were wounded—but the realm called it martial policy; this is the lower policy. Qin Shihuang could not bear small shame and lightly exhausted the people's strength, building the Long Wall firm for ten thousand li, with transport missions starting from the coast; when the border works were complete the central lands were drained within and the state was lost—this is no policy at all. Today the realm suffers the Yang-nine calamity, famine year after year—especially severe on the northwest border. To raise three hundred thousand men and prepare three hundred days' grain, drawing support east from the coast and Dai, south from the Jiang and Huai, and only then be ready. Reckoning the distances, even a year would not suffice to assemble them; troops arriving first would mass together in the open, troops worn, weapons broken, momentum unusable—this is one difficulty. Second: the frontier cannot feed the army while interior levies cannot link up in time. Each soldier needs eighteen hu of grain for three hundred days—only oxen can haul it; the beasts need twenty hu themselves—the burden swells. Third: desert wastes kill draft oxen within a hundred days, leaving grain men cannot carry. Fourth: bitter seasons demand stoves and fodder for a full year—past campaigns halted at one hundred days because plague and climate forbade longer stays. Baggage slows the march—few light troops can pursue swiftly—the nomads slip away and cannot be overtaken. If they do meet the enemy, they are again hampered by baggage; if they hit narrow ground they file nose-to-tail while the enemy strikes front and rear—peril beyond reckoning—this is the fifth difficulty. Mobilizing the realm for uncertain gain fills me with dread. Since troops are already marching, let early arrivals under my command strike deep like lightning and sting the Hu." Wang Mang ignored him and kept shifting troops and grain until the empire seethed.
40
咸既受莽孝單于之號，馳出塞歸庭，具以見脅狀白單于； 單于更以為於粟置支侯，匈奴賤官也。 後助病死，莽以登代助為順單于。
Xian fled home with Wang Mang's bogus Filial title and told the true Chanyu how he had been forced; The Chanyu instead named him Marquis of Yusu Zhizhi—a petty steppe title. When Zhu died Wang Mang named Deng Compliant Chanyu in his stead.
41
吏士屯邊者所在放縱，而內郡愁於征發，民棄城郭，始流亡為盜賊，并州、平州尤甚。 莽令七公、六卿號皆兼稱將軍，遣著武將軍逯並等鎮名都，中郎將、繡衣執法各五十五人，分鎮緣邊大郡，督大奸猾擅弄兵者。 皆乘便為奸於外，橈亂州郡，貨賂為市，侵漁百姓。 莽下書切責之曰：「自今以來，敢犯此者，輒捕系，以名聞！」 然猶放縱自若。 北邊自宣帝以來，數世不見煙火之警，人民熾盛，牛馬布野； 及莽橈亂匈奴，與之構難，邊民死亡係獲，數年之間，北邊虛空，野有暴骨矣。
Border garrisons ran riot while the interior buckled under conscription; people abandoned their towns and swelled the bandit ranks, especially in Bingzhou and Pingzhou. Wang Mang gave every high minister a general's title and sent Martial-Display General Suo Bing and others to famous capitals, with fifty-five palace gentlemen and embroidered-cloth law-enforcers each to border commanderies to supervise great villains who wielded arms. They all abused their posts abroad, bent and troubled the provinces, made bribery a trade, and preyed on the people. Wang Mang issued a stern rebuke: "From now on, whoever dares do this shall be seized and reported by name!" The abuse continued unchecked. Since Emperor Xuan the north had known generations without beacon fires—people multiplied and herds carpeted the prairie; Wang Mang's provocations killed or enslaved frontier folk; within years the north lay empty, with bones whitening in the fields.
42
太師王舜自莽篡位後，病悸浸劇，死。
Grand Tutor Wang Shun fell ill with heart palpitations after the usurpation and died as his symptoms worsened.
43
莽為太子置師、友各四人，秩以大夫。 以故大司徒馬宮等為師疑、傅丞、阿輔、保拂，是為四師； 故尚書令唐林等為胥附、奔走、先後、禦侮，是為四友。 又置師友、侍中、諫議、《六經》祭酒各一人，凡九祭酒，秩皆上卿。 遣使者奉璽書、印綬、安車、駟馬迎龔勝，即拜為師友祭酒。 使者與郡太守、縣長吏、三老、官屬、行義、諸生千人以上入勝裡致詔。 使者欲令勝起迎，久立門外。 勝稱病篤，為床室中戶西、南牖下，東首加朝服拖紳。 使者付璽書，奉印綬，內安車、駟馬，進謂勝曰：「聖朝未嘗忘君，製作未定，待君為政； 思聞所欲施行，以安海內。」 勝對曰：「素愚，加以年老被病，命在朝夕，隨使君上道，必死道路，無益萬分！」 使者要說，至以印綬就加勝身； 勝輒推不受。 使者上言：「方盛夏暑熱，勝病少氣，可須秋涼乃發。」 有詔許之。 使者五日壹與太守俱問起居，為勝兩子及門人高暉等言：「朝廷虛心待君以茅土之封，雖疾病，宜動移至傳捨，示有行意； 必為子孫遺大業。」 暉等白使者語，勝自知不見聽，即謂暉等：「吾受漢家厚恩，無以報； 今年老矣，旦暮入地，誼豈以一身事二姓，下見故主哉！」 勝因敕以棺斂喪事：「衣周於身，棺周於衣。 勿隨俗動吾塚、種柏、作祠堂！」 語畢，遂不復開口飲食，積十四日死。 死時，七十九矣。
Wang Mang appointed four tutors and four friends for the heir apparent, each at grandee rank. Former Grand Minister of Education Ma Gong and others became Tutor-Doubt, Tutor-Assistant, Side-Support, and Protector-Brush—the four tutors; former Director of the Masters of Writing Tang Lin and others became Attendant-Attach, Runner, Fore-and-Aft, and Ward-Insult—the four friends. He also named one libationer each for tutors and friends, palace attendant, remonstrance adviser, and the Six Classics—nine libationers in all, all at upper-minister rank. He dispatched envoys with a jade-sealed edict, seals, a comfortable carriage, and four horses to welcome Gong Sheng and appoint him libationer for tutors and friends. The envoy, with the governor, magistrate, village elders, officials, and more than a thousand students, entered Gong Sheng's lane to read the summons. The envoy waited at the gate for Gong Sheng to come out and greet him. Gong Sheng declared himself dying, had a couch placed beneath the southwest window of his room with his head to the east, and dressed in full court robes with sash properly tucked. The envoy presented the sealed letter, offered the seals, brought in the carriage and horses, and said, "The new dynasty has not forgotten you; laws are unfinished—it looks to you for guidance; tell us what you would enact to settle the realm." Gong Sheng answered, "I am a dull old man at death's door; if I tried to travel with you I would die on the road and do your cause no good!" The envoy pressed him until he tried to drape the seals on Gong Sheng's person; Gong Sheng thrust them away. The envoy reported, "Midsummer heat has left him breathless; let him wait for cool autumn before traveling." The court assented. " Every five days the envoy and governor inquired after his health and told his sons and disciple Gao Hui, "The throne means to enfeoff you; even ill you should move to the post inn to show good will— that will secure great fortune for your heirs." When his disciples relayed this, Gong Sheng knew they would not listen. He told them, "The Han treated me generously; I could never repay it; I am old and near the grave—how could I serve a second dynasty and face my late sovereign below!" He then instructed them on his burial: "Let my clothes cover my limbs and my coffin cover my clothes— do not follow fashion by heaping up my mound, planting cypress, or building a shrine!" When he had finished speaking, he took no more food or drink and died after fourteen days. He was seventy-nine.
44
是時清名之士，又有琅邪紀逡，齊薛方，太原旬阜越、郇相，沛唐林、唐尊，皆以明經飭行顯名於世。 紀逡、兩唐皆仕莽，封侯，貴重，歷公卿位。 唐林數上疏諫正，有忠直節。 唐尊衣敝、履空，被虛偽名。 旬阜相為莽太子四友，病死，莽太子遣使裞以衣衾，其子攀棺不聽，曰：「死父遺言：『師友之送，勿有所受。』 今於皇太子得托友官，故不受也。」 京師稱之。 莽以安車迎薛方，方因使者辭謝曰：「堯、舜在上，下有巢、由。 今明主方隆唐、虞之德，小臣欲守箕山之節。」 使者以聞。 莽說其言，不強致。
At this time other noted men of integrity included Ji Qun of Langye, Xue Fang of Qi, Xun Fu Yue and Xun Xiang of Taiyuan, and Tang Lin and Tang Zun of Pei—all famed for classical learning and upright lives. Ji Qun and both Tangs served Wang Mang, were ennobled as marquises, and rose to the highest offices. Tang Lin repeatedly remonstrated with blunt honesty. Tang Zun affected rags and holey shoes—a hollow show of austerity. Xun Xiang was one of the heir apparent's four friends under Wang Mang but died in office; the heir sent mourning gifts, yet Xun's son clung to the coffin and refused them, saying, "My father's last charge was to accept nothing from tutor or friend— though the heir calls him friend, we will not take these." The capital praised his resolve. Wang Mang sent a carriage for Xue Fang; he told the envoy, "Under Yao and Shun there were still hermits like Chao and Xu— Your Majesty revives their virtue, while I prefer the reclusion of Mount Ji." The envoy reported his words. Wang Mang was pleased and did not press him.
45
初，隃糜郭欽為南郡太守，杜陵蔣詡為兗州刺史，亦以廉直為名。 莽居攝，欽、詡皆以病免官，歸鄉里，臥不出戶，卒於家。 哀、平之際，沛國陳咸以律令為尚書。 莽輔政，多改漢制，咸心非之； 及何武、鮑宣死，咸歎曰：「《易》稱『見幾而作，不俟終日。』 吾可以逝矣。」 即乞骸骨去職。 及莽篡位，召咸為掌寇大夫； 咸謝病不肯應。 時三子參、欽、豐皆在位，咸悉令解官歸鄉里，閉門不出入，猶用漢家祖臘。 人問其故，咸曰：「我先人豈知王氏臘乎！」 悉收斂其家律令、書文，壁藏之。 又，齊栗融、北海禽慶、蘇章、山陽曹竟，皆儒生，去官，不仕於莽。
Earlier Guo Qin of Yumi had been governor of Nan commandery and Jiang Xu of Duling governor of Yan Province—both famed for honesty. When Wang Mang became regent, both pleaded illness, retired to their villages, never crossed their thresholds again, and died at home. Between the reigns of Emperors Ai and Ping, Chen Xian of Pei entered the Masters of Writing for expertise in codified law. When Wang Mang governed as regent and refashioned Han institutions, Chen Xian silently rejected the changes; After He Wu and Bao Xuan were killed, Chen Xian sighed, "The Book of Changes says the wise man moves the moment he sees peril— I can stay no longer!" He thereupon petitioned to retire and quit his office. After the usurpation Wang Mang appointed him Grandee for Bandit Suppression; Chen Xian pleaded sickness and never took up the duty. His three sons—Can, Qin, and Feng—still held posts; he made them all resign, led the family back home, sealed their doors, and continued to keep the Han calendar's year-end La sacrifice. Asked why, he replied, "Would our forebears have recognized a La day invented by the Wang clan!" He collected every law text in the household and immured them inside a wall. Li Rong of Qi, Qin Qing of Beihai, Su Zhang, and Cao Jing of Shanyang were scholars who quit office rather than serve Wang Mang.
46
班固贊曰：春秋列國卿大夫及至漢興將相名臣，懷祿耽寵以失其世者多矣，是故清節之士，於是為貴； 然大率多能自治而不能治人。 王、貢之材，優於龔、鮑。 守死善道，勝實蹈焉。 貞而不諒，薛方近之。 郭欽、蔣詡，好遁不污，絕紀、唐矣。
Ban Gu's encomium says: From the feudal age to Han, countless generals and ministers clung to stipend and favor until they ruined themselves and their times; hence men of stainless principle won the highest esteem; yet most could govern their own persons, not the realm. Wang Ji and Gong Yu had the greater political talent; the two Gongs and Bao Xuan stand more narrowly on moral heroism. To die for the right principle—Gong Sheng truly walked that path. Upright yet supple in refusal—Xue Fang came close to that balance. Guo Qin and Jiang Xu loved reclusion without stain—surpassing Ji Qun and the Tangs!
47
是歲，瀕河郡蝗生。
This year river counties suffered a locust hatch.
48
河決魏郡，泛清河以東數郡。 先是，莽恐河決為元城塚墓害； 及決東去，元城不憂水，故遂不堤塞。
The river broke in Wei and poured across the lands east of the Qinghe. Wang Mang had long dreaded a breach that would flood the Wang tombs at Yuancheng; when the flood ran eastward and spared Yuancheng, he left the breach undiked.
49
春，二月，赦天下。
In spring, the second month, a general amnesty was proclaimed for all under Heaven.
50
厭難將軍陳欽、震狄將軍王巡上言：「捕得虜生口驗問，言虜犯邊者皆孝單于咸子角所為。」 莽乃會諸夷，斬咸子登於長安市。
Hardship-Quelling General Chen Qin and Shock-the-Di General Wang Xun reported from captives that the raids were led by Jiao, son of the puppet Chanyu Xian—" Wang Mang then assembled the various barbarians and beheaded Xian's son Deng in the market of Chang'an.
51
大司馬甄邯死。
Grand Marshal Zhen Han died.
52
莽至明堂，下書：「以洛陽為東都，常安為西都。 邦畿連體，各有采、任。 州從《禹貢》為九； 爵從周氏為五。 諸侯之員千有八百，附城之數亦如之，以俟有功。 諸公一同，有眾萬戶； 其餘以是為差。 今已受封者，公侯以下凡七百九十六人，附城千五百一十一人。」 以圖簿未定，未授國邑，且令受奉都內，月錢數千。 諸侯皆困乏，至有傭作者。
Wang Mang went to the Bright Hall and issued an edict: "Let Luoyang be the Eastern Capital and Chang'an the Western Capital. The twin capitals shall share one royal domain with graded fiefs around them. Provinces shall follow the Tribute of Yu as nine; noble ranks shall follow the Zhou house as five. He set aside 1,800 marquisates and the same number of attached-to-the-wall slots for future merit. A duke shall hold ten thousand households in one domain; the rest shall be graded accordingly. Seven hundred ninety-six men already held patents from duke and marquis downward; another 1,511 held the attached-to-the-wall rank." Until the maps were final, nobles drew only a few thousand cash monthly stipends inside the capital. Many nobles grew so poor they hired out as day laborers.
53
莽性躁擾，不能無為，每有所興造，動欲慕古，不度時宜，制度又不定； 吏緣為奸，天下謷謷，陷刑者眾。 莽知民愁怨，乃下詔：「諸食王田，皆得賣之，勿拘以法。 犯私買賣庶人者，且一切勿治。」 然它政悖亂，刑罰深刻，賦斂重數，猶如故焉。
Wang Mang was restless and unable to leave things alone; whenever he launched a project he sought to emulate antiquity without regard to the times, and his institutions kept shifting; officials abused the chaos, the realm clamored, and those caught in the law grew numerous. “Seeing popular anger, Wang Mang decreed that holders of king's fields might sell them again without legal restraint; and suspended prosecution of illegal commoner sales—for the moment." Yet other policies remained chaotic, punishments harsh, and levies heavy as before.
54
初，五威將帥出西南夷，改句町王為侯，王邯怨怒不附。 莽諷牂柯大尹周歆詐殺邯。 邯弟承起兵殺歆，州郡擊之，不能服。 莽又發高句驪兵擊匈奴； 高句驪不欲行，郡強迫之，皆亡出塞，因犯法為寇。 遼西大尹田譚追擊之，為所殺。 州郡歸咎於高句驪侯騶，嚴尤奏言：「貉人犯法，不從騶起； 正有它心，宜令州郡且尉安之。 今猥被以大罪，恐其遂畔，夫餘之屬必有和者。 匈奴未克，夫餘、濊貉復起，此大憂也。」 莽不尉安，濊貉遂反； 詔尤擊之。 尤誘高句驪侯騶至而斬焉，傳首長安。 莽大說，下書更名高句驪為下句驪。 於是貉人愈犯邊，東、北與西南夷皆亂。 莽志方盛，以為四夷不足吞滅，專念稽古之事，復下書：「以此年二月東巡狩，具禮儀調度。」 既而以文母太后體不安，且止待後。
When the Five Might envoys demoted the Gouding king to a marquis, Wang Han refused to submit. Wang Mang prompted the Zangke grand intendant Zhou Xin to kill Han by treachery. Wang Han's younger brother Cheng raised troops and killed Zhou Xin; the provinces and commanderies attacked him but could not subdue him. Wang Mang again mobilized Goguryeo troops to attack the Xiongnu; The Goguryeo did not wish to go; the commandery forced them, and they all fled beyond the pass and, breaking the law, became raiders. Grand Administrator of Liaoxi Tian Tan pursued and attacked them and was killed. The provinces and commanderies blamed the Marquis of Goguryeo Zou; Yan You memorialized, "The Mo people broke the law, and it did not start with Zou; he truly has other intentions. The provinces and commanderies ought for the time being to comfort and reassure him. Now he has abruptly been charged with a great crime; I fear he will then rebel, and the tribes akin to Fuyu will surely have those who join him. The Xiongnu are not yet overcome, and Fuyu and the Eastern Mo rise again—this is a great worry." Wang Mang did not comfort and reassure them, and the Eastern Mo then rebelled; an edict ordered Yan You to attack them. Yan You lured the Marquis of Goguryeo Zou to come, then beheaded him and sent his head to Chang'an. Wang Mang was greatly pleased and issued a document renaming Goguryeo as Lower Goguryeo. Thereupon the Mo people increasingly raided the border; the eastern, northern, and southwestern Yi all fell into disorder. Wang Mang's ambitions were then at their height; he deemed the four Yi insufficient to consume and destroy and devoted his mind solely to investigating antiquity. He again issued a document: "In the second month of this year I shall conduct the eastern tour of inspection; prepare fully the rites, protocol, and arrangements." Yet because Empress Dowager Wenmu's health was unwell, he for the time being halted and waited for later.
55
初，莽為安漢公時，欲諂太皇太后，以斬郅支功奏尊元帝廟為高宗，太后晏駕後，當以禮配食云。 及莽改號太后為新室文母，絕之於漢，不令得體元帝，墮壞孝元廟，更為文母太后起廟； 獨置孝元廟故殿以為文母篡食堂，既成，名曰長壽宮，以太后在，故未謂之廟。 莽置酒長壽宮，請太后。 既至，見孝元廟廢徹塗地，太后驚泣曰：「此漢家宗廟，皆有神靈，與何治而壞之！ 且使鬼神無知，又何用廟為！ 如令有知，我乃人之妃妾，豈宜辱帝之堂以陳饋食哉！」 私謂左右曰：「此人慢神多矣，能久得祐乎！」 飲酒不樂而罷。 自莽篡位後，知太后怨恨，求所以媚太后者無不為，然愈不說，莽更漢家黑貂著黃貂； 又改漢正朔、伏臘日。 太后令其官屬黑貂； 至漢家正、臘日，獨與其左右相對飲食。
At first, when Wang Mang was Duke of Secure Han, wishing to flatter the Grand Empress Dowager, on the merit of beheading Zhizhi he memorialized to honor the temple of Emperor Yuan as Gaozong, saying that after the Empress Dowager's demise she ought by ritual to receive offerings beside him. When Wang Mang changed the Empress Dowager's title to Wenmu of the Xin house, severing her from Han, he did not let her be paired with Emperor Yuan, destroyed the temple of Emperor Xiaoyuan, and built a separate temple for Empress Dowager Wenmu; he alone retained the old hall of Emperor Xiaoyuan's temple as Empress Dowager Wenmu's usurped offering hall. When it was completed it was named Everlasting Longevity Palace; because the Empress Dowager was still alive, it was therefore not yet called a temple. Wang Mang set wine at Everlasting Longevity Palace and invited the Empress Dowager. When she arrived she saw the temple of Emperor Xiaoyuan demolished and strewn over the ground. The Empress Dowager cried out in shock, "These are Han's ancestral temples—all have spirits; for what governance do you destroy them! And if spirits and ghosts have no knowledge, what use are temples! If they do have knowledge, I am merely a man's consort—how could it be fitting to dishonor the Son of Heaven's hall by setting out offerings of food!" She privately told those beside her, "This man has long slighted the spirits—can he long obtain their protection!" She drank without pleasure and the banquet ended. After Wang Mang usurped the throne, knowing the Empress Dowager resented him, he sought every means to please her and left nothing undone, yet she grew ever less pleased. Wang Mang changed Han's black sable-fur caps to yellow sable; he also changed Han's first month of the year and the Fu and La festival days. The Empress Dowager ordered her officials to wear black sable; On Han's New Year and La days she alone with those beside her faced each other in eating and drinking.
56
春，二月，文母皇太后崩，年八十四； 葬渭陵，與元帝合，而溝絕之。 新室世世獻祭其廟； 元帝配食，坐於床下。 莽為太后服喪三年。
In spring, the second month, Empress Dowager Wenmu died, aged eighty-four; She was buried at Weiling, combined with Emperor Yuan but with a ditch cutting them off. The Xin house generation after generation presented offerings at her temple; Emperor Yuan received accompanying offerings, seated below the bed. Wang Mang observed mourning for the Empress Dowager for three years.
57
烏孫大、小昆彌遣使貢獻。 莽以烏孫國人多親附小昆彌，見匈奴諸邊並侵，意欲得烏孫心，乃遣使者引小昆彌使，坐大昆彌使上。 師友祭酒滿昌劾奏使者曰：「夷狄以中國有禮誼，故詘而服從。 大昆彌，君也，今序臣使於君使之上，非所以有夷狄也。 奉使大不敬！」 莽怒，免昌官。
The great and lesser Kunmi of the Wusun sent envoys with tribute. Wang Mang, because many in the Wusun state were close to the lesser Kunmi and because he saw the Xiongnu raiding on all borders, wished to win the Wusun's hearts. He therefore had an envoy lead the lesser Kunmi's envoy to be seated above the great Kunmi's envoy. Libationer of Masters and Friends Man Chang impeached the envoy, saying, "The Yi and Di, because the Middle Kingdom has ritual and righteousness, therefore bend and submit. The great Kunmi is the lord; now ranking a subject's envoy above the lord's envoy—this is not how one keeps the Yi and Di. Commission of an embassy in gross irreverence!" Wang Mang was angry and dismissed Man Chang from office.
58
西域諸國以莽積失恩信，焉耆先叛，殺都護但欽； 西域遂瓦解。
The states of the Western Regions, because Wang Mang had long lost grace and faith, rebelled first at Yanqi and killed the Protector Dan Qin; the Western Regions thereupon disintegrated.
59
十一月，彗星出，二十餘日，不見。
In the eleventh month a comet appeared; after more than twenty days it was no longer seen.
60
是歲，以犯挾銅炭者多，除其法。
This year, because many were convicted of hoarding copper and charcoal, that law was abolished.
61
匈奴烏珠留單于死，用事大臣右骨都侯須卜當，即王昭君女伊墨居次雲之婿也。 雲常欲與中國和親，又素與於粟置支侯咸厚善，見咸前後為莽所拜，故遂立咸為烏累若鞮單于。 烏累單于咸立，以弟輿為左谷蠡王。 烏珠留單于子蘇屠胡本為左賢王，後更謂之護於，欲傳以國。 咸怨烏珠留單于貶己號，乃貶護於為左屠耆王。
The Xiongnu chanyu Wuzhuliu died. The powerful minister Right Guduhou Xubu Dang was the son-in-law of Wang Zhaojun's daughter Yimojuci Yun. Yun had long wished to make peace and kinship with the Middle Kingdom and had always been on close terms with Yuluzhi Hou Xian. Seeing that Xian had repeatedly been enfeoffed by Wang Mang, he thereupon established Xian as chanyu Wulei Ruodi. When Chanyu Wulei Xian was established, he made his younger brother Yu Left Guli King. Wuzhuliu's son Sutuhu had originally been Left Wise King; later he was restyled Huyu, intending to pass him the state. Xian resented that Wuzhuliu had demoted his title and therefore demoted Huyu to Left Tujiu King.
62
春，正月，赦天下。
In spring, the first month, there was an amnesty for all under Heaven.
63
莽下詔：「將以是歲四仲月遍行巡狩之禮，太官繼□、乾肉，內者行張坐臥； 所過毋得有所給。 俟畢北巡狩之禮，即於土中居洛陽之都。」 群公奏言：「皇帝至孝，新遭文母之喪，顏色未復，飲食損少； 今一歲四巡，道路萬里，春秋尊，非讙、乾肉之所能堪。 且無巡狩，須闋大服，以安聖體。」 莽從之，要期以天鳳七年巡狩； 厥明年，即土之中，遣太傅平晏、大司空王邑之洛陽營相宅兆，圖起宗廟、社稷、郊兆云。
Wang Mang issued an edict: "I shall this year in the four intermediate months fully conduct the tour-of-inspection rites; the Grand Steward shall continually supply minced meat and dried meat; the Palace Steward shall provide screens, mats, and bedding; wherever I pass, none may offer anything. When the northern tour of inspection is completed, I shall at once reside in the capital at Luoyang in the central earth." The assembled nobles memorialized, "The Emperor is supremely filial and has newly suffered Empress Dowager Wenmu's death; his complexion has not recovered and his food and drink are diminished; now four tours in one year over roads of ten thousand li—at his advanced age, dried hash and dried meat are not what he can bear. Moreover, there should be no tour of inspection until the great mourning is concluded, to settle the sage body." Wang Mang followed this, fixing the deadline for a tour of inspection in Tianfeng year 7; the year after that, in the central earth, he dispatched Grand Tutor Ping Yan and Grand Minister of Works Wang Yi to Luoyang to survey auspicious sites for dwellings, plotting to raise ancestral temples, altars of soil and grain, and suburban sacrifice grounds—or so it is said.
64
三月，壬申晦，日有食之。 大赦天下。 以災異策大司馬逯並就侯氏朝位，太傅平晏勿領尚書事。 以利苗男訢為大司馬。 莽即真，尤備大臣，抑奪下權，朝臣有言其過失者，輒拔擢。 孔仁、趙博、費興等以敢擊大臣，故見信任，擇名官而居之。 國將哀章頗不清，莽為選置和叔，敕曰：「非但保國將閨門，當保親屬在西州者。」 諸公皆輕賤，而章尤甚。
In the third month, on the last day of renshen, there was an eclipse of the sun. A general amnesty was proclaimed for all under Heaven. On account of portents and anomalies, Grand Marshal Lu Bing was demoted to the ranked-marquis seats in court; Grand Tutor Ping Yan was not to oversee Secretariat affairs. Xin, Baron of Liyao, was made Grand Marshal. Once Wang Mang assumed the true title, he was especially on guard against great ministers, suppressed and seized power from subordinates, and any court minister who spoke of his faults was forthwith promoted. Kong Ren, Zhao Bo, Fei Xing, and others, because they dared impeach great ministers, were therefore trusted and were placed in offices of renown. State General Ai Zhang was rather unscrupulous; Wang Mang selected and installed a Harmony Uncle for him, instructing, "You must not only guard the State General's inner quarters—you must also guard his kinsmen in the western provinces." The various nobles were all held in light esteem, and Zhang especially so.
65
夏，四月，隕霜殺草木，海瀕尤甚。 六月，黃霧四塞。 秋，七月，大風拔樹，飛北闕直城門屋瓦。 雨雹，殺牛羊。
In summer, the fourth month, frost fell from the sky and killed vegetation; it was especially severe along the seacoasts. In the sixth month yellow fog blocked all four sides. In autumn, the seventh month, a great wind uprooted trees and blew off the roof tiles of the Northern Gate's Zhicheng Gate tower. Hail fell and killed cattle and sheep.
66
莽以《周官》、《王制》之文，置卒正、連率、大尹，職如太守； 又置州牧、部監二十五人。 分長安城旁六鄉，置帥各一人。 分三輔為六尉郡； 河東、河內、弘農、河南、穎川、南陽為六隊郡。 更名河南大尹曰保忠信卿。 益河南屬縣滿三十，置六郊州長各一人，人主五縣。 及它官名悉改。 大郡至分為五，合百二十有五郡。 九州之內，縣二千二百有三。 又仿古六服為惟城、惟寧、惟翰、惟屏、惟垣、惟籓，各以其方為稱，總為萬國焉。 其後，歲復變更，一郡至五易名，而還復其故。 吏民不能紀，每下詔書，輒系其故名云。
Wang Mang, following the text of the Offices of Zhou and Royal Regulations, established Chief Rectifiers, Link-Leaders, and Great Administrators, with duties like commandery governors; he also established twenty-five Regional Governors and Department Overseers. He divided the six districts beside Chang'an and placed one Commander in each. He divided the Three Metropolitan Areas into six Wei commanderies; Hedong, Henei, Hongnong, Henan, Yingchuan, and Nanyang became six Dui commanderies. He renamed the Grand Administrator of Henan Defender of Loyalty and Trust. He increased Henan's subordinate counties to a full thirty and placed six suburban district chiefs, each ruling five counties. All other official names were likewise changed. Large commanderies were divided until there were as many as five; in all there were one hundred twenty-five commanderies. Within the Nine Provinces there were two thousand two hundred three districts. He also imitated the ancient six domains as Weicheng, Weining, Weihan, Weiping, Weiyuan, and Weifan, each titled by its direction, totaling the myriad states. Afterward, year by year the names were changed again; one commandery might change its name five times and then return to the old one. Officials and commoners could not keep track; whenever an edict was issued, the former name was always appended.
67
匈奴右骨都侯須卜當、伊墨居次雲勸單于和親，遣人之西河虎猛制虜塞下，告塞吏云：「欲見和親侯。」 和親侯者，王昭君兄子歙也。 中部都尉以聞，莽遣歙、歙弟騎都尉、展德侯颯使匈奴，賀單于初立，賜黃金、衣被、繒帛； 紿言侍子登在，因購求陳良、終帶等。 單于盡收陳良等二十七人，皆械檻付使者，遣廚唯姑夕王富等四十人送歙、颯。 莽作焚如之刑，燒殺陳良等。
Xiongnu Right Guduhou Xubu Dang and Yimojuci Yun urged the chanyu toward peace and kinship, sending men to Tiger-Fierce Chanyu-Suppressing Pass of Xihe and telling the border officer, "We wish to see the Marquis of Peace and Kinship." The Marquis of Peace and Kinship was Wang Zhaojun's elder brother's son Xin. The Central Division Commandant reported it; Wang Mang sent Xin, Xin's younger brother Commandant of Cavalry and Marquis of Zhande Sa, as envoys to the Xiongnu to congratulate the chanyu on his recent establishment and gifted gold, garments, silks, and textiles; falsely saying the hostage prince Deng was present, and thereby seeking to buy back Chen Liang, Zhong Dai, and others. The chanyu gathered all twenty-seven including Chen Liang, confined them in the cangue and handed them to the envoys, and sent forty men including Chuyi Guyixi King Fu to escort Xin and Sa. Wang Mang instituted the Burning punishment and burned Chen Liang and the others to death.
68
緣邊大饑，人相食。 諫大夫如普行邊兵還，言：「軍士久屯寒苦，邊郡無以相贍。 今單于新和，宜因是罷兵。」 校尉韓威進曰：「以新室之威而吞胡虜，無異口中蚤虱。 臣願得勇敢之士五千人，不繼斗糧，饑食虜肉，渴飲其血，可以橫行！」 莽壯其言，以威為將軍。 然采普言，徵還諸將在邊者，免陳欽等十八人，又罷四關鎮都尉諸屯兵。 單于貪莽賂遺，故外不失漢故事，然內利寇掠； 又使還，知子登前死，怨恨，寇虜從左地入不絕。 使者問單于，輒曰：「烏桓與匈奴無狀黠民共為寇入塞，譬如中國有盜賊耳！ 咸初立持國，威信尚淺，盡力禁止，不敢有二心！」 莽復發軍屯。
Along the borders there was great famine; people ate one another. Remonstrance Grandee Ru Pu, returning from inspecting border troops, said, "Soldiers have long been encamped in cold and hardship; the border commanderies have nothing with which to support them. Now that the chanyu has newly made peace, we ought on this account to dismiss the troops." Colonel Han Wei advanced and said, "With the Xin house's prestige to swallow the Hu and captive peoples—no different from lice in the mouth. Your servant would obtain five thousand brave men, with no follow-on rations of a bushel of grain—hungry, eating the captives' flesh; thirsty, drinking their blood—and could range at will!" Wang Mang thought his words bold and made Han Wei a general. Yet he adopted Ru Pu's advice, recalled the generals on the borders, dismissed eighteen men including Chen Qin, and also abolished the garrison troops of the four passes' Frontier-Stabilizing Commandants. The chanyu was greedy for Wang Mang's bribes and gifts, so outwardly he did not abandon Han precedent, yet inwardly he profited from raids; when the envoys returned and learned that the hostage son Deng had already died, he bore resentment, and Hu raiders from the left entered ceaselessly. When envoys questioned the chanyu, he would always say, "The Wuhuan and the Xiongnu's unruly crafty people jointly raid into the passes—just like having bandits and thieves in the Middle Kingdom! Xian has only lately held the state; his prestige is still shallow; he does his utmost to forbid it and does not dare have two hearts!" Wang Mang again mobilized troops for garrison.
69
益州蠻夷愁擾，盡反，復殺益州大尹程隆。 莽遣平蠻將軍馮茂發巴、蜀、犍為吏士，賦斂取足於民，以擊之。
The barbarian Yi of Yizhou, aggrieved and disturbed, all rebelled and again killed Grand Administrator of Yizhou Cheng Long. Wang Mang sent Pacification-of-Barbarians General Feng Mao to raise troops from Ba, Shu, and Qianwei, wringing the people until funds were sufficient, then marched to strike them.
70
莽復申下金、銀、龜、貝之貨，頗增減其賈直，而罷大、小錢，改作貨布、貨泉二品並行。 又以大錢行久，罷之恐民挾不止，乃令民且獨行大錢； 盡六年，毋得復挾大錢矣。 每壹易錢，民用破業而大陷刑。
Wang Mang again promulgated gold, silver, turtle shells, and cowries, somewhat adjusting their set values, abolished large and small coins, and reformed currency into Huo Bu and Huo Quan as two denominations circulating together. Moreover, because the large coin had circulated long, he feared that abolishing it would not stop the people from hoarding it; he therefore ordered the people for the time being to circulate the large coin alone; After a full six years, they were no longer permitted to hoard large coins. Each time the currency was changed, the common people lost their livelihoods and many fell deeply into criminal punishment.