Recaps

Wang Mang returned to Chang'an and received prestigious, powerful appointments from the emperor, becoming a central figure for scholars calling for institutional reform. He cultivated support at the Imperial Academy and resolved to gain military authority so he could restore Great Han, confident that Heaven’s mandate favored him.

• Wang Mang reflected that he had changed after his setbacks, while the court remained much as it had been.
• The emperor appointed Wang Mang Libationer of the Imperial Academy, Chamberlain for Ceremonials, Director of the Repository of Classics, and Attendant-in-Chief, and enfeoffed him as Marquis Changren.
• Scholars flocked to Wang Mang and urged reform, while some radicals declared that Great Han’s mandate of Heaven was declining.
• Wang Mang identified powerful conservatives as obstacles and set his sights on becoming Grand Marshal and Great General.
• Wang Mang visited the Imperial Academy, listened to scholars, and cultivated supporters by arguing that moral renewal was essential to saving All Under Heaven.

Wang Mang told Wang Cheng, Liu Qin, and Meng Lin that he would use moral authority and control of public opinion to remove his opponents, claiming to carry out Heaven’s will. The others approved of his decisive approach as he set his sights on consolidating power.

• Liu Qin warned Wang Mang that hidden enemies might try to harm him, and Wang Cheng urged him to punish them.
• Wang Mang compared his faction to lotus flowers rising from mud and said they would present themselves as virtuous while concealing their darker methods.
• Wang Mang declared that he would use public opinion to justify removing opponents and offer them a chance to resign before resorting to force.
• Meng Lin asked how Wang Mang would deal with opponents who had committed no crimes, and Wang Mang branded opposition to him as defiance of Heaven’s will.
• Wang Cheng applauded Wang Mang’s answer, and Meng Lin also welcomed his decisiveness.

Wang Mang sought support from the Garrisoning High-ranking Marquises for institutional reform, but Marquis Ying and Marquis Lü remained cautious as unrest spread. The chapter ends with a record of uprisings that overwhelmed the feudal lords east of the passes, costing many their domains and lives.

• Lü Chang told Luo Zhong that Wang Mang’s warning had convinced him the realm needed change, as unrest and attacks threatened the marquis clans.
• Luo Zhong urged caution, arguing that Marquis Ying and Marquis Lü should first stabilize their territories rather than risk being branded traitors.
• Wang Mang remained undeterred by the founding marquises’ ambiguous responses and believed control of the court and central forces would let him dominate the realm.
• Luo Fu’s advisers reported that Wang Mang had become Censor-in-Chief and might soon become Chancellor, while Luo Fu judged that mounting pressure was forcing the emperor toward reform.
• In the seventeenth year of Divine Phoenix, uprisings and banditry overwhelmed the feudal lords east of the passes; eleven died, four domains were overrun, and seven lords lost their titles.

Luo Fu discussed the political crisis and the rise of Wang Mang with the Luo Clan, whose younger members debated whether to support his institutional reforms. Luo Qi won permission to leave Zhao City and serve Wang Mang, while Luo Yi predicted Wang Mang's likely promotion and warned that his ambitions might exceed what he could achieve.

• Luo Fu explained that reports from the eastern feudal lords showed the region was failing and that pressure for institutional reform was growing.
• Luo Fu described the reform faction supporting Wang Mang and explained why powerful gentry, imperial relatives, and eunuchs opposed it.
• Luo Qi admitted that Wang Ju Jun had invited him to serve and argued that he should help restore peace, even if Wang Mang proved unable to save All Under Heaven.
• Luo Yi urged Luo Fu to let Luo Qi and other young clan members pursue their ideals, and Luo Fu gave his blessing.
• After the others left, Luo Yi predicted Wang Mang would soon become chancellor and discussed the limits of his plans for land reform.

Wang Mang arranged for Zhao Feiyan to enter the palace and distract the emperor from government, secretly expecting his unchecked indulgence to destroy his health. Wang Cheng presented her and received a general's rank, while Zhao Feiyan captivated the emperor and became his favored consort.

• Wang Mang told his allies that he would offer Zhao Feiyan to the emperor to keep him from interfering with their reforms.
• Wang Mang privately assured Wang Cheng that Zhao Feiyan would consume the emperor's attention, while concealing his expectation that indulgence would exhaust the emperor's vitality.
• Wang Cheng presented Zhao Feiyan without revealing her connection to Wang Mang, and the delighted emperor promised him the rank of general.
• Zhao Feiyan recalled Wang Mang's promise to care for her family and friends in exchange for her bewitching the emperor.
• Zhao Feiyan performed the Swallow in the Palm Dance and seduced the emperor.
• The biographical account recorded that the emperor favored Zhao Feiyan and abandoned his other consorts and his empress.

Luo Qi and Wang Mang used accusations of witchcraft in the palace to turn suspicion against Zhao Feiyan’s rivals and strengthen her bid to become Empress. After Zhao Feiyan described symptoms of poisoning, Emperor Liu Chi ordered the palace searched, especially the halls of the noble ladies.

• Luo Qi advised Wang Mang to watch for palace jealousy and use an opportunity to help Zhao Feiyan become Empress.
• Wang Mang questioned how Outer Ministers had learned inner-palace secrets, hinting at collusion within the court.
• Zhao Feiyan entered the hall, saw the memorials, and performed distress at being blamed as a scourge upon the realm.
• Zhao Feiyan said she suffered stabbing pains in her chest and head, and Liu Chi concluded that Witchcraft and Gu Poison Arts were being used.
• Liu Chi ordered the Regular Attendant to search the Imperial Palace, especially the halls of the noble ladies.

After Liu Chi died, Zhao Feiyan installed a child emperor, and Wang Mang gained control of the Great Han's military and government. Amid demands to elevate him to Duke, Wang Mang followed Luo Qi's advice and publicly denied seeking the throne, after which Zhao Feiyan summoned Luo Qi.

• Liu Chi died after taking an occult practitioner's drug, and the ministers gave him the posthumous title Xi.
• Zhao Feiyan installed a two-year-old Imperial Prince as emperor, while Wang Mang became Grand Marshal and Great General with the additional title of Assistant Regent.
• Luo Qi confronted Wang Mang over calls to elevate him to Duke and persuaded him to follow his advice.
• An official challenged Wang Mang in court and accused him of potentially seeking kingship and the imperial throne.
• Wang Mang rejected elevation to Duke, expressed a desire to become Acting Son of Heaven, and declared that he sought peace rather than usurpation before leaving the hall.
• Zhao Feiyan summoned Luo Qi after court dispersed.

Zhao Feiyan questioned Luo Qi about Wang Mang’s claim to the throne, and Luo Qi assured her that Wang Mang would honor his oath. Seeking to secure Luo Qi’s support, Zhao Feiyan proposed that he marry her sister Hede; he agreed to seek his father’s approval, while the closing passage framed Luo Qi as an influential figure missing from official histories.

• Zhao Feiyan asked Luo Qi what Wang Mang meant by saying the people could give him the Crown, and warned that she might stop him from governing.
• Luo Qi told Zhao Feiyan that Wang Mang’s words had been spoken at his direction and swore he would personally deal with any betrayal.
• Zhao Feiyan considered how to secure Luo Qi’s support and offered him her sister Hede as a wife.
• Luo Qi accepted the proposed marriage in principle, saying he would write to his father so the Luo Clan could formally arrange it.
• The closing passage described Luo Qi as a significant adviser in Wang Mang’s administration whose life was absent from official historical records.

After the marriage alliance signaled Luo Qi’s support for the imperial family, Wang Mang’s reform faction moved to implement its plans. Wang Mang proposed extending the Luo Clan’s land system across the realm, and Luo Qi warned that the system could not work elsewhere, leaving the reformers divided over how far to go.

• The Empress Dowager arranged Luo Qi’s marriage alliance, and scholars and officials took it as a sign that he would safeguard the imperial family during the reforms.
• Luo Qi and the others met at Wang Mang’s residence and agreed that the time had come to begin reforming the realm.
• Wang Mang argued that land sales and private ownership had caused land annexation and proposed returning to a Well-Fields-style system.
• Luo Qi questioned whether the ancient system could be restored, and Wang Mang suggested extending the Luo Clan’s land-distribution system throughout the realm.
• Luo Qi warned that the Luo Clan’s methods depended on exceptional rulers and abundant capable officials, and said they must not be imposed on the realm.
• Wang Mang said the proposal was a benchmark rather than a promise to match Zhao City, but Luo Qi remained concerned that officials might try to implement it and cause disaster.

Luo Qi advised Wang Mang to pursue visible reforms, especially abolishing slavery, while warning that moral appeals alone would not overcome the powerful gentry. As Wang Mang prepared his first decree, the Luo Clan delivered lavish betrothal gifts for Luo Qi and Zhao Hede, including priceless historical relics.

• Wang Mang accepted Luo Qi's advice to prioritize frugality and abolishing slavery, while Luo Qi worried that Wang Mang underestimated the resistance reform would face.
• Zhao Hede entered Chang'an and moved into the Imperial Palace, while Luo Qi began planning how to use abolition of slavery to weaken the powerful gentry.
• The Luo Clan's marriage proposal mission arrived in Chang'an and presented Zhao Feiyan with gifts for Luo Qi's marriage to Zhao Hede.
• The Luo envoy listed rare treasures, including a Shang bronze ding, Zhou imperial relics, Duke Huan of Qi's chime bells, and a volume of Spring and Autumn Exegesis in Confucius's hand.
• Zhao Feiyan spread news of the gifts, which people interpreted as the Luo Clan's support for the Empress Dowager and the survival of Great Han.
• The author identified the ancient tomb's likely occupant as Zhao Feiyan's younger full brother, Marquis Chenlu.

Liu Xiu heard fellow Liu Clan Kin discuss Luo Wenqi’s promotion and Liu Chen’s success at the Luo Clan Academy, then considered leaving home to study in Zhao City. The chapter left him weighing the risks of pursuing his ambitions, including becoming Chief Commandant of the Capital and marrying Yin Lihua.

• Liu Xiu’s companions envied Luo Wenqi’s appointment as Chief Commandant of the Capital and teased Liu Xiu about his own ambitions and his hopes of marrying Yin Lihua.
• A black-clad youth told Liu Xiu and the others that Liu Chen had studied at the Luo Clan Academy, become a Great Confucian’s Personal Disciple, and earned the clan’s Cultivated Talent recommendation.
• A yellow-clad youth announced that he would leave for Zhao City to study, prompting Liu Xiu to consider whether he should pursue the same path.
• Liu Xiu reflected on his humble circumstances, his desire to reach high office, and his fear that he would regret staying in the countryside.
• The emperor recalled traveling to Zhao City for an education despite poverty and urged restless Imperial Academy students to value their ambitions over small gains.

Luo Qi married Zhao Hede, and their union strengthened his political ties with the imperial family and Wang Mang. In the second year of Divine Blessing, Wang Mang launched sweeping institutional reforms that began the Divine Blessing Revolution, though Luo Qi believed they would have to proceed cautiously.

• Luo Qi married Zhao Hede, and the system increased the Luo Clan’s Imperial Fortune and granted its members new traits.
• Luo Qi and Zhao Hede visited the palace, where Zhao Feiyan welcomed their marriage and the alliance among her, Luo Qi, and Wang Mang took shape.
• Wang Mang issued an imperial edict announcing institutional reforms, despite disregarding Luo Qi’s warnings about powerful local interests.
• Wang Mang’s reforms aimed to reduce inequality and restore common people as farmers and small landowners, beginning the Divine Blessing Revolution.

Cui Yi used Wang Mang’s reforms to seize land and supplies from commoners while protecting the great clans and enriching himself, provoking uprisings across Eastern Sea Commandery. He ordered the rebellion suppressed and prepared gifts and a flattering letter to secure his standing with the court and Empress Dowager.

• As the reform edict reached Eastern Sea Commandery, Cui Yi ordered officials to confiscate land deeds, grain, cloth, and silk, and to free elderly slaves while crediting the court and Lord Ju Jun.
• Officials in many commanderies used the decree to seize commoners’ land and grain, while great-clan tenants occupied the best fields, sparking bloody clashes and rebellions.
• Cui Yi celebrated his administrative results and his own gains, then ordered troops to suppress the rebels rather than report the uprising immediately.
• Cui Yi told his trusted aide to report that the rebellion had been crushed and the reforms were proceeding smoothly, and to deliver gifts to officials around the Great General and palace eunuchs.
• Cui Yi decided to court the Empress Dowager’s Zhao Clan and began writing her a respectful letter.

Wang Mang celebrated reports that the new policies were succeeding in Eastern Sea Commandery, but Luo Qi suspected the results were false. As coercive reforms drove people from their homes and fueled rebellion, the Marquis of Zàn ordered an investigation while powerful gentry helped turn popular anger against the Han court.

• Wang Mang praised Cui Yi’s report of exceptional reform results in Eastern Sea Commandery and called for Cui Yi to be rewarded and used as a model.
• Luo Qi found Cui Yi’s reported success suspicious and resolved to investigate him and Eastern Sea Commandery.
• The Marquis of Zàn learned that displacement and attacks on government offices were increasing, and ordered his steward to investigate the cause.
• Displaced people rose against officials collecting levies, while powerful gentry and disaffected scholars incited rebellion against the court.
• The Marquis of Zàn worried that unrest could destroy his clan’s foundation as rebellions spread across Eastern Sea Commandery.

The King of Eastern Sea united the Righteous Army, captured Tan County, and oversaw Cui Yi’s execution after Zhao Ji avenged her family. As unrest spread, Luo Qi persuaded Wang Mang and Zhao Feiyan to contain the rebellion without stripping Guanzhong of its defenses, and the Empress Dowager issued an edict ordering relief for the common people and action against abusive officials and clans.

• The King of Eastern Sea rallied the Righteous Army under the cry “Han's mandate has ended; the Eastern King shall rise!” and marched on Tan County.
• The Righteous Army captured Tan County with little resistance while Cui Yi tried to flee the Commandery Governor's Residence.
• Zhao Ji crippled Cui Yi and explained that she had waited for the chance to avenge her ruined family; the Righteous Army seized him and executed him before the crowd.
• Luo Qi condemned Cui Yi’s abuses and stopped Wang Mang from sending Guanzhong’s troops east, arguing that the capital’s defenses had to remain secure.
• Luo Qi obtained Zhao Feiyan’s seal to summon the feudal lords east of Luoyang to contain the rebellion, and Zhao Feiyan asked him to pacify All Under Heaven.
• The Empress Dowager issued an edict directing Liu Clan kings and marquises to defend their territories and ordering officials to feed and relieve the people while punishing harmful great clans.

Luo Fu explained why Luo Qi could not control the Han Dynasty’s worsening crisis, while the Lords King exploited the Righteous Armies’ advance to launch a rebellion against the court. The armies converged on a wider struggle, and Wang Mang prepared to fight as Luo Qi warned that the dynasty faced another major Lords King uprising.

• Luo Fu told Luo Yi that governing was harder than judging from the sidelines, and said the Luo Clan would stop spending its reserves to prop up the Han Dynasty if its reforms failed.
• Marquis Lü and Luo Zhong concluded that the high-ranking marquises would not save the dynasty, and Marquis Lü declared that Marquis Ying would await a Liu Clan descendant with the Mandate of Heaven.
• After besieging Lanling County for half a month, the King of Eastern Sea abandoned the attack and led his army west through Chu State and Liang State, reaching Luoyang without serious resistance.
• Wang Mang vowed to crush the Righteous Armies and punish the Lords King who had let them pass, while Luo Qi warned that the Lords King planned a large-scale rebellion.
• The Kings of Zhao, Liang, Chu, and Jiaodong formed an alliance and issued a proclamation calling supporters to rise against Wang Mang and the Empress Dowager, as the court prepared to face the spreading conflict.

Liu Xiu tried to reconcile the court and the Lords King to preserve the Han, but Wang Mang’s distrustful decree pushed her powerful-gentry allies toward rebellion. Urged on by Yin Lihua, Liu Xiu left Luoyang to seek support from the Five Houses, just as an imperial messenger arrived too late to find her.

• Liu Xiu rose to prominence by defeating rebel forces, killing the King of the Eastern Sea, and building an army of more than thirty thousand troops.
• Liu Xiu appealed to the four Lords King to end their conflict with the court, but they discarded her letter and later joined rebel forces to attack her.
• Liu Xiu urged Chang'an to repeal the New Policies on land and cooperate with the Lords King, but Wang Mang rebuked her and questioned her loyalty.
• Liu Xiu saw her powerful-gentry allies prepare to defect, and Yin Lihua urged her to seek support from the Five Clans and Seven Houses.
• Liu Xiu resolved to leave Luoyang for the lands of the Five Houses, while a delayed messenger arrived with an imperial edict and learned she had gone.

Liu Xiu won the support of powerful marquis families in the East of the Passes and raised the Han Restoration Army in Yanzhou. After defeating the King of Zhao’s army, he turned his forces toward Jiaodong.

• The Marquis of Anyang introduced Liu Xiu to Marquis Ying, who questioned Liu Xiu’s change of position on suppressing powerful gentry; Liu Xiu argued that restoring peace should come first.
• Luo Zhong approved of Liu Xiu’s benevolent purpose and sent him to meet Marquis Lü.
• Liu Xiu traveled among the East of the Passes’ powerful families, gaining introductions and recruits, then raised the Han Restoration Army in Yanzhou.
• The King of Zhao attacked Liu Xiu, who crossed the Great River, harassed Zhao’s supply lines, and forced the enemy to concentrate its forces.
• Liu Xiu wore down the Zhao army, routed it in a night attack, and marched toward Jiaodong.

Liu Xiu defeated the King of Liang at Hulao Pass and prepared to face the court’s massive army while Luo Qi worried about the war and the court’s weakening support. As the armies confronted each other, meteorites fell on Wang Mang’s camp, and Liu Xiu’s forces took the omen as Heaven’s aid.

• Liu Xiu’s victories across the eastern provinces won the support of local lords, but factional infighting and the court’s threat forced him to march west.
• Liu Xiu swore an oath at Xiangying City, led fifty thousand elite troops toward Hulao Pass, lured the King of Liang’s army out, and defeated it.
• The court sent eight armies totaling four hundred thousand soldiers toward Hulao, while Liu Xiu held the passes and attacked their supply lines.
• Luo Qi worried that the court’s army might lose and that his clan was shifting toward neutrality, and he resolved to protect Zhao Hede and their children.
• Meteorites fell into Wang Mang’s army camp, and Liu Xiu declared that Heaven was helping him before advancing to battle.

After Liu Xiu defeated the court army, Green Forest rebels invaded Guanzhong, forcing Luo Qi to defend Chang'an and take control of the Han court. Luo Qi negotiated a settlement with Liu Xiu, ending the war and setting the terms for Liu Xiu to inherit the throne; the chapter closed by recounting the rise of a new Han Dynasty and the permanent changes behind its restoration.

• Liu Xiu defeated the court's army, while Green Forest rebels entered Guanzhong through Wu Pass and spread unrest across the region.
• Luo Qi defended Chang'an against repeated Righteous Army assaults, and Zhao Feiyan appointed him Grand Marshal and Great General, removing Wang Mang from power.
• Luo Qi told Zhao Feiyan that he would not join Liu Xiu because he opposed Liu Xiu's compromise with the powerful gentry.
• Luo Zhong advised Liu Xiu that Luo Qi wanted negotiations, and Liu Xiu agreed to seek peace rather than exhaust his forces attacking Chang'an.
• Luo Qi sent Liu Xiu terms that ended the war, arranged the deposition of the Divine Blessing Emperor and Liu Xiu's succession, and ordered Wang Mang's exile and Luo Qi's relocation.
• Ten years after receiving the imperial crown, Liu Xiu pacified All Under Heaven and established a new Han Dynasty.

Chen Fan was assassinated by men from the Royal Yulin after the emperor ordered him home, and scholars blamed the palace Regular Attendants. As memorials demanding punishment went unanswered, Luo Qian ordered her household to shelter public-minded heroes who might be caught in the struggle.

• Chen Fan recognized the Royal Yulin among his attackers, and the eunuch ordered the soldiers to shoot and charge, killing him and his escort.
• Scholars blamed the Regular Attendants for Chen Fan’s murder and sent angry memorials to the Tai Bureau demanding punishment.
• Luo Chuan and Luo Qian discussed the growing conflict between the emperor and the scholars, and Luo Qian told him to hide heroes who cared for the public good.
• The palace retained the memorials without responding and granted Chen Fan a posthumous title, further angering his relatives, friends, and old associates.

The emperor ordered the imprisonment and execution of scholars who petitioned for justice for Chen Fan, while their surviving allies fled or hid. When a corrupt prefect entered Marquis Ying's Marquisate to hunt fugitives, Luo Chuan's groom killed him, and Marquis Ying dismissed the emperor's demand for an explanation with a defiant reply.

• The emperor denounced the scholars who petitioned against the eunuchs and issued an edict sentencing them and their associates to imprisonment and death.
• Nearly a hundred scholars were condemned; officials arrested and killed those in Luoyang, while others fled Great Han or hid with powerful clans.
• The Regular Attendant's nephew, a corrupt prefect, went to Marquis Ying's Marquisate to seize fugitives and threatened to plunder the estate.
• A groom killed the prefect and his men after the prefect spoke insolently, while Luo Chuan and his wife continued painting inside the residence.
• After the emperor demanded an explanation, Marquis Ying replied that the prefect had insulted the Luo Clan and that he had shown mercy by leaving the corpse intact.

After the emperor released the imprisoned partisans but barred them and their clans from office, Luo Chuan submitted a memorial condemning the ban and the use of eunuchs in government. The chapter left the conflict between the Luo Clan and the emperor focused on whether the realm or the sovereign’s power should come first.

• The emperor held back from attacking Marquis Ying's household, but ordered executions for partisans fleeing into the Marquisate and inspections around its borders.
• After powerful nobles requested pardons, the emperor released the imprisoned scholars but prohibited them and their three clans from holding office.
• Luo Chuan submitted a memorial urging the emperor not to bar scholars from office and asking whether palace attendants could govern the realm.
• Readers and officials recognized that Luo Chuan had indirectly accused the emperor of neglecting capable scholars in favor of incompetent eunuchs.
• Luo Chuan's opposition reflected the Luo Clan's belief that the realm and its stability mattered more than the sovereign's personal rule.

Luo Chuan argued that saving Great Han required cooperation among upright scholars, humble-born scholars, and overlooked frontier officers, and he urged the emperor to lift the partisan prohibitions and reform the court. The emperor rebuked him and punished Marquis Ying's Marquisate, while scholars across All Under Heaven praised Luo Chuan for defying the throne.

• Luo Chuan told Luo Qian that he would speak for Great Han's future rather than serve the emperor's wishes or simply oppose him.
• Luo Chuan concluded that Great Han could be saved through an alliance of upright scholars, ambitious scholars from humble families, and frontier military officers.
• Luo Chuan submitted a memorial urging the emperor to lift the prohibitions on scholars, appoint worthy officials, educate humble-born scholars, and select capable eunuchs.
• The emperor angrily rebuked Luo Chuan, reduced Marquis Ying's households by three hundred, and fined him two thousand shi of stipend grain.
• Luo Chuan continued defending the scholars, and a hundred thousand scholars hailed him as a model for All Under Heaven.

After the emperor imposed political banishment on the scholars, Luo Chuan reflected on the Han Dynasty’s decline and reaffirmed his loyalty to it despite his clan’s distance from the court. The banished scholars left the capital, while eunuchs and local elites continued to plunder, further weakening the empire.

• The scholars thanked Luo Chuan for protecting them, then discussed their uncertain futures under the Edict of Political Banishment before departing.
• Luo Qian warned Luo Chuan that supporting the scholars had made the emperor view him as a threat and that another crisis could endanger his life.
• Luo Chuan told Luo Qian that he believed the Han Dynasty was nearing chaos but vowed that the Marquis Ying Lineage would remain loyal to it.
• Luo Qian pointed out that the scholars could seek positions in the flourishing Yan State and that their clan would offer little help to Luo Chuan’s efforts to support the Han Court.
• The emperor treated the scholars’ removal as inconsequential, sold three high offices, and the eunuchs and local gentry intensified their exploitation of the people.