In order to facilitate administration of their new territories, the Chinese build roads, waterways, and harbors, largely with corvée labor (unpaid labor exacted by government authorities, particularly for public works projects).

Agriculture is improved with better irrigation methods and the use of plows and draft animals, innovations which may have already been in use by the Vietnamese on a lesser scale.

New lands are opened up for agriculture, and settlers are brought in from China.

After a few generations, most of the Chinese settlers probably intermarry with the Vietnamese and identify with their new homeland.

Chinese rule over the Vietnamese becomes more direct following the ill-fated revolt, and the feudal Lac lords fade into history.

Ma Yuan establishes a Chinese-style administrative system of three prefectures and fifty-six districts ruled by scholar-officials sent by the Han court.

Although Chinese administrators replace most former local officials, some members of the Vietnamese aristocracy are allowed to fill lower positions in the bureaucracy.

The Vietnamese elite in particular receive a thorough indoctrination in Chinese cultural, religious, and political traditions.

One result of Sinicization, however, is the creation of a Confucian bureaucratic, family, and social structure that give the Vietnamese the strength to resist Chinese political domination in later centuries, unlike most of the other Yue peoples who are sooner or later assimilated into the Chinese cultural and political world.

Nor is Sinicization so total as to erase the memory of pre-Han Vietnamese culture, especially among the peasant class, which retains the Vietnamese language and many Southeast Asian customs.

Chinese rule has the dual effect of making the Vietnamese aristocracy more receptive to Chinese culture and cultural leadership while at the same time instilling resistance and hostility toward Chinese political domination throughout Vietnamese society.

Lelang is a great center of Chinese statecraft, art, industry (including the mining of iron ore), and commerce for about four centuries, from the second century BCE to the second century CE.

Its influence is far-reaching, attracting immigrants from China and exacting tribute from several states south of the Han River, which pattern their civilization and government after Lelang.

In the first three centuries CE, a large number of walled-town states in southern Korea have grouped into three federations known as Jinhan, Mahan, and Byeonhan; rice agriculture has developed in the rich alluvial valleys and plains to the point of establishing reservoirs for irrigation.

The Chinese census shows nearly one million people living in Vietnam.

The population China's of China in its first known nationwide census, taken in 2 CE, is registered as having 57,671,400 individuals in 12,366,470 households.

Wang Mang, an official of China’s Han dynasty, had been born in a distinguished family, but his father had died when he was young and he had held minor posts until being made a marquess in 16 BCE.

His father's half sister is the powerful Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, who had been the consort of Emperor Yuan and mother of Emperor Cheng.

Wang Zhengjun (71 BCE–13 CE) was first empress, then empress dowager, and finally grand empress dowager during the reigns of the Emperors Yuan (r. 49–33 BCE), Cheng (r. 33–7 BCE), and Ai (r. 7–1 BCE), respectively.

During this time, a succession of her male relatives have held the title of regent.

In 8 BCE, Wang Mang had been appointed regent for Emperor Cheng, but Cheng had died in 7 BC or 6 BCE and been succeeded by Emperor Ai, who is not related to Empress Dowager Wang.

Wang Mang thus resigned.

After Ai died childless in the year 1 BCE, the throne had been passed to his cousin Emperor Ping - then a child of 9 years old.

Wang Mang had been appointed regent by the Grand Empress Dowager Wang.

Dissatisfied with his father's dictatorial regency, in 3, Wang's son Wang Yu conspires with Emperor Ping's maternal uncles of the Wei clan against Wang, but after they are discovered, Wang has not only Wang Yu and the Weis (except Consort Wei) put to death, but also uses this opportunity to accuse many actual or potential political enemies as being part of the conspiracy and to execute or exile them.

From this time forward, the Han Dynasty exists only in name.

Furthermore, Wang Mang also designates his daughter as the empress consort to Emperor Ping to codify his legitimacy to power.

Wang Mang bases his sweeping reforms, intended to remedy the economic crisis into which the Han dynasty has fallen, on his revival of Zhou dynasty classics concerning the ideal Confucian state.

He institutes such radical measures as abolition of slavery, imposition of an income tax, currency debasement, nationalization of the land, and state loans to peasants at moderate interest rates.

A descendant of the Han rulers, Liu Xiu, effects a restoration of the old dynasty.

Wang Mang’s brief rule thus separates the Han Dynasty into two periods: that of the Former, or Earlier, Han, and that of the Later Han.

Wang Mang had decided in CE 2 to have his daughter married to Emperor Ping to further affirm his position as regent.

Initially, he had begun a selection process of eligible noble young ladies (after declaring, in accordance with ancient customs, that Emperor Ping would have one wife and eleven concubines).

Then, in an act of false modesty intended to create the opposite result, he had petitioned Grand Empress Dowager Wang that his daughter not be considered—and started a petition drive by the people to have his daughter be selected as empress.

The petitioners had stormed the outside of the palace, and Grand Empress Dowager Wang, overwhelmed by the display of affection for Wang Mang, had ordered that Wang Mang's daughter be made empress.

In 4, Emperor Ping officially marries her and makes her empress.

Wang Mang's son Wang Yu disagreed with his father's dictatorial regime and program to build up his personality cult, afraid that in the future the Wangs would receive a backlash when Emperor Ping was grown.

He has therefore formed friendships with Emperor Ping's Wei uncles, and told Consort Wei to offer assurances to Wang Mang that she would not act as Emperor Ai's mother and grandmother did, trying to become an empress dowager.

Wang Mang still refuses to let her visit the capital.

In 3, Wang Yu had formed a conspiracy with his teacher Wu Zhang, his brother-in-law Lü Kuan, and the Weis, to try to see what they could do to break Wang Mang's dictatorial hold.

They had decided to create what would appear to be supernatural incidents to make Wang Mang concerned, and then have Wu try to persuade Wang Mang to transfer power to the Weis.

Wang Yu had told Lü to toss a bottle of blood onto Wang Mang's mansion door to create that effect—but Lü was discovered by Wang Mang's guards.

Wang Mang then arrested Wang Yu, who then committed suicide, and his wife (Lü Kuan's sister) Lü Yan was executed.

Wang Mang then executed the entire Wei clan, except for Consort Wei.

Wu was cut in half and then drawn and quartered.

(It is not known what happened to Lü, but it would appear that there would be no way for him to escape death.)

Wang Mang now takes this opportunity to further wipe out potential enemies—by torturing Wang Yu and Lü's co-conspirators, arresting anyone that they mentioned, and having them either executed or forced to commit suicide.

The victims of this purge include Emperor Yuan's sister Princess Jingwu, Wang Mang's own uncle Wang Li, and his own cousin Wang Ren.

He falsely tells Grand Empress Dowager Wang, however, that they had died of illnesses.

Many other officials are unwilling to follow Wang Mang are also victimized in this purge.

After this, Wang Mang's hold on power becomes absolute.

Wang Mang in CE 5 revives an ancient ceremony intended for those who have made great contributions to the state, and has himself awarded the “nine bestowments”. (Receipt of the "nine bestowments" will, after Wang Mang, hereafter become a customary step for usurpers to take before they ascend the throne.)

Around this time, Emperor Ping appears to grow out of a heart condition that he suffered as a child, and it becomes fairly clear that he resentsd Wang for slaughtering his uncles and not allowing his mother to visit him in Chang'an.

Wang therefore resolves to murder the emperor.

In the winter of 5, Wang administers pepper wine (considered at the time to be capable of chasing away evil spirits) to the thirteen-year-old-year-old emperor, but has the wine spiked with poison.

As the emperor suffers from the effects of the poison, Wang writes a secret petition to the gods, in which he offers to substitute his life for Emperor Ping's, and then has the petition locked away.

(Historians generally believed that Wang had two motives in doing this—one, in case Emperor Ping recovered from the poisoning, would have been to use this to try to absolve himself of involvement in the poisoning, and the second would have been to leave for posterity evidence of his faithfulness.)

After a few days of suffering, Emperor Ping dies.

Emperor Ping, who had had no children by his wife Empress Wang or any of his concubines, he has no heir.

Further, by this point, Emperor Ping's grandfather, Emperor Yuan, has no surviving male issue.

The progeny of Emperor Ping's great-grandfather Emperor Xuan are therefore examined as possible successors.

There are fifty-three great-grandsons of Emperor Xuan still living, but they were all adults, and Wang Mang dislikes this fact—he wants a child whom he can control.

Therefore, he declares that it is inappropriate for members of the same generation to succeed each other (even though Emperor Ping had succeeded his cousin Emperor Ai several years earlier).

He then examines the twenty-three great-great-grandsons of Emperor Xuan—all of whom are infants or toddlers.

While the examination process is proceeding, the mayor of South Chang'an submits a rock with a mysterious red writing on it—"Wang Mang, the Duke of Anhan, should be emperor."

Wang has his political allies force Grand Empress Dowager Wang to issue an edict granting him the title of "Acting Emperor", with the commission to rule as emperor until a great-great-grandson of Emperor Xuan can be selected and raised.

In the spring of 6, Acting Emperor Wang selects the child Ying—just one year old—as the designated successor to Emperor Ping, claiming that soothsayers have told him that Ying was the candidate most favored by the gods.

He gives Ying the epithet Ruzi—the same epithet that King Cheng of Zhou had when he was in his minority and under the regency of the Duke of Zhou—to claim that he is as faithful as the Duke of Zhou.

However, Emperor Ruzi does not ascend the throne, but is given the title of crown prince.

Empress Wang is given the title empress dowager.

As acting emperor, Wang reinstitutes the Zhou system of five grades of nobility—duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron.

Several members of the imperial Liu clan are naturally suspicious of Acting Emperor Wang's intentions.

They start or assisted in several failed rebellions against Wang.

Liu Chong, the Marquess of Anzhong, makes an attack against Wancheng (in modern Nanyang, Henan)in 6.

His attack fails, but historians do not specify what happened to him, other than that as punishment, Wang has his house filled with filthy water.