The Power of the Three Kingdoms at the End of the Han Dynasty and the Imperial Power of the Han Dyna

Chapter 158 The rise of the Yellow Turban Thief
"The sky is dead! Huang Tian should stand!"

"The year is in Jiazi! Great luck in the world!"

On March 184, the seventh year of Guanghe (AD [-]), with Zhang Jiao swearing an oath in Jizhou, the mighty Yellow Turban Uprising officially kicked off the troubled times.

This was a large-scale peasant armed uprising with a religious nature. Religion, a social group, naturally has three special attributes:
1. Its operating costs are extremely low.

2. Its sources of manpower and financing are extremely strong.

3. Its mobility and execution power are super high.

Adhering to the straightforward "prophecy" style that has been so straightforward since the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, green is wood, yellow is earth, and the five elements are in harmony: "metal, water, wood, fire and earth", "celestial sky" refers to the Eastern Han Dynasty, and "yellow sky" refers to the Tao of Taiping. , and according to the theory of Five Virtues, the Han Dynasty is the virtue of fire, fire produces earth, and earth is yellow, so the Eastern Han Dynasty should be replaced.

The uprising was somewhat hasty because something went wrong at the beginning and traitors appeared within.

Not long after the Lantern Festival in the seventh year of Guanghe's reign, Ma Yuanyi, one of the 36 "Fangs" of Dafang "Qushuai", quietly came to Luoyang.This is not the first time he has come to the capital, but it is likely to be the last time before the uprising.His main purpose this time was to contact the eunuchs Feng Xu and Xu Feng in the palace.Ma Yuanyi conveyed Zhang Jiao's intention to form an alliance, hoping that the two central ministers could cooperate internally and externally, hold the emperor hostage in the Forbidden Palace, and form a response to the rebels outside the pass.The time agreed upon by both parties was March [-] of that year.This is in line with the saying in the Taiping Jing that "the three to five qi are harmonious, and the sun and the moon are always bright, which is peace."

Soon, both parties reached a consensus.Someone has already written the mark "Jiazi" in white clay on the back wall of the capital's yamen and county government offices. It seems that something big is about to happen.At this time, Ma Yuanyi just needs to get out and go to Yecheng to join his tens of thousands of disciples. When the time comes, everything will happen inside and outside!

This was exactly one of Zhang Jiao's arrangements before the date of the rebellion.

However, things often go wrong at critical moments.

While Ma Yuanyi and the eunuchs were plotting a great cause, a secret letter from Zhang Jiao's disciple, a man named Tang Zhou, was also sent to Yin Hejin of Henan.Reporting that what they were about to do was a conspiracy, Tang Zhou reported in a letter that his master Zhang Jiao, the "great virtuous teacher", intended to rebel, and pointed out that Ma Yuanyi was colluding with the servants in the capital.

"Someone wants to rebel!"

And it is a long-planned rebellion!

As the emperor, Liu Hong was shocked when he received the information from He Jin immediately. The traitor had already reached into the inner court, and there was a traitor in the inner court!

Although the emperor was dim-witted, he was not stupid. He immediately ordered the arrest of Ma Yuanyi and brutally purged the guards, eunuchs and maids around him.

"Ma Yuanyi, the car broke!"

At the same time, people in the capital who had participated in Taiping Dao activities or believed in Taiping Dao were also implicated, and a total of more than a thousand people were executed.

How could the news of such a large-scale purge not reach Zhang Jiao's ears in Jizhou?

When the news reached Jizhou, Zhang Jiao knew that the matter had been exposed, so he informed 36 Fang Qushuai at night and started the rebellion in advance in February of that year.

Taiping Dao believers uniformly wore yellow scarves on their heads, killed local officials, asked the gods to worship the flag, and raised troops on the spot.

Zhang Jiao called himself "General Tiangong", his younger brother Zhang Bao called himself "General Digong", and Zhang Liang called himself "General Renggong". The Yellow Turban Army from all over the country began to attack the government and plundered the towns. The whole country responded and the capital was shaken.

Zhang Jiao used his prestige among the people to divide the believers in Qing, Xu, You, Ji, Jing, Yang, Yan, and Henan into 36 parties; more than 7000 people in Dafang and [-] in Xiaofang; each party had one Qu Shuai, under his unified command.

Zhang Jiao's early uprising caught the Eastern Han Dynasty off guard. In the early stage of the uprising, it can be said that the invasion was like a fire and it went quite smoothly.

In the month when Jizhou raised troops, the local Yellow Turban followers captured Anping King Liu Xu and Ganling King Liu Zhong, and Ganling Prime Minister Feng Xun was brutally killed.

Counties and counties in Jizhou looked at the wind and descended, and a large number of officials and people fled the local area to avoid the war.

Of course, there is a special place in Jizhou that Zhang Jiao dare not touch, and that is the Hejian Kingdom.

Whether the Hejian Kingdom is a county soldier or a national soldier, the combat effectiveness is not comparable to that of peasants, who are mostly made up of peasants. Moreover, once the Hejian Kingdom is broken, the Bingzhou leader may go on a killing spree.After that, it became more and more intense, with explosions in 28 counties in seven states at the same time. The Yellow Turban Army everywhere was overwhelming, states and counties fell, and Luoyang was shaken.

Qingxu Huangjin broke through Beihai and then attacked from all sides.

The Yangzhou Yellow Turbans attacked Shuxian County and burned the city walls. The offensive was very fierce.

Nanyang Yellow Turban Zhang Mancheng attacked and killed Chu Gong, the prefect of the county, and came to Wancheng.

The Runan Yellow Turban Pengtuo defeated the prefect Zhao Qian in Shaoling.

If Zhang Jiao had not stopped him in time, Guangyang Yellow Turban almost killed Guo Xun, the governor of Youzhou, but Liu Wei, the prefect of the county, was killed.

Guo Xun is also a member of the King of Hejian. Before killing him, you must consider whether your head is strong enough.

The troops of Yingchuan Huangjin Bocai have reached the vicinity of Xingyang and are about to seize the national granary - Aocang.

Not far away is the east gate of the empire - Xuanmenguan.It has another name that is more familiar to everyone - Hulao Pass.

The Yellow Turban Uprising first started as "riots in six states", then "seven states and 28 counties broke out at the same time", and then eight states responded, and its momentum gradually reached its peak.

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At this moment, the imperial court is not in a hurry.

On the third day of March, the emperor appointed He Jin as the general, and officially began to arrange the defense work in the Gyeonggi area. He led the five battalions of Yulin soldiers to garrison in Duting, guard the capital, and strictly controlled Hangu Pass, Yique, Mengjin and other Luoyang basins. At the pass, while repairing weapons and equipment, the capital was guarded.

I have briefly talked about the terrain around Luoyang in the previous article, but now I will talk about it in detail.

Luoyang, the capital of the empire, is located on the Yiluo Plain, during the period when the Yishui and Luo rivers flowed.

The Yiluo Plain is surrounded by mountains.To the north of the plain is the continuous Beimang Mountain, and to the north of the mountain is the Yellow River.Counting counterclockwise from the west, the plain includes the Weishan Mountains, the Xiong'er Mountains, the Funiu Mountains, the Waifang Mountains, and the Songshan Mountains. There are eight important passes in these mountains, namely Hangu Pass, Guangcheng Pass, and Yique Pass. , Dagu Pass, Shenyuan Pass, Xuanmen (Hulao) Pass, Xiaopingjin and Mengjin.

The imperial court set up school lieutenants at these eight important checkpoints and assigned troops to garrison them.

The empire was suddenly in danger.

On the fifth day of March, the emperor convened the ministers to discuss. The Yellow Turban bandits had been causing trouble for more than a month and were getting worse.

Huangfu Song, who had just been promoted from the Northern Prefecture, put forward his own opinion: "Song thought it would be better to lift the ban on the party, and it would be beneficial to hide money in the middle, stable horses in the west garden, and use the class as a sergeant."

He believed that by lifting the ban on the party, talents could be obtained, by giving the money collected by the emperor over the years to the soldiers, morale could be boosted, and by supplying the emperor's private collection of horses to the troops, the army could be supplemented, and then the rebels would be easily eliminated.

Emperor Liu Hong looked at Huangfu Song with a calm face, but he was extremely angry in his heart. The nobles threatened him with the safety of the world to lift his imprisonment from the party.

Liu Hong didn't believe that such a massive rebellion could be launched in one day?
The powerful nobles must be involved in this. Even if they are not involved, they are still watching with cold eyes.

But does he still have a choice now?

Lü Qiang, the chief minister of the Central Committee, said to the emperor: "The party has been imprisoned for a long time, and people have many resentments. If you don't forgive me for a long time, and you conspire with Zhang Jiao, you will only make things worse, and you will regret it without saving."

Lu Qiang's words are very realistic. The party's imprisonment has been implemented for more than ten years. If they are not pardoned, these people will conspire with the Yellow Turban thieves out of resentment, and the world will be out of control.

(End of this chapter)