Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 386: Death of Zhang Jue (Part )

The decisive battle between Gongsun Zan of Youzhou and the Cao-Liu alliance was not something unexpected. Everyone in the world knew that this would happen sooner or later.

But they didn't expect that it would happen so early.

This really made them sigh for a moment.

Especially Dayu.

Hall of Qinzheng

The original Tianshi Hall had long been renamed Qinzheng Hall, because Zhang Jue was no longer the Tianshi of the Taiping Dao. Perhaps after Zhang Jue's death, his name would be enshrined on a Taoist deity.

Just as Laozi is both the Taoist Laozi and one of the Three Pure Ones in the traditional Taoist sense, Taiqing Tianzun.

"I didn't expect these two to be so impatient, and I didn't expect Gongsun Zan to be able to control his ambition so quickly."

The Taoist Master Zu Tianshi, who was sitting in front of Zhang Jue, just smiled. His laughter was very light and no emotion could be heard from it.

"Gongsun Zan's issue will be resolved sooner or later, but Xuande and Mengde's original plan must not be to resolve Gongsun Zan now, because the division of Youzhou's territory has not yet been discussed."

Zu Tianshi touched his chin with a thoughtful look on his face.

"The two of them couldn't wait to launch an attack on Gongsun Zan at this time, probably because Zhongying surrendered to Dayu. Since Sun Ce of Jiaozhou was defeated and fled to a more distant place to split off a part of Jiaozhou and establish "Wu", Gongsun Zan of Youzhou was the only one left in the nine provinces of the world."

There was a hint of emotion in Zu Tianshi's voice: "The world has been divided for too long. Both Xuande and Mengde can no longer hold back their determination to unify the world, so they can only launch a final attack on Gongsun Zan in a hurry."

"After tearing apart and devouring the fat piece of Gongsun Zan, the next step for these two will probably be to unite and launch an attack on Dayu."

Zhang Jue coughed a few times, and his body was becoming increasingly unable to support itself.

Hearing this, he smiled and didn't show any worry at all.

"This is really bad news, but for me, it's not too bad."

Zhang Jue never called himself "I" in front of this person. The relationship between them was more like that between "friends" or "elders and juniors" rather than that between superiors and subordinates or monarch and subject.

He blinked his eyes like an ordinary playful old man.

"My body probably won't last this day."

"Before Cao Cao and Liu Bei defeated Gongsun Zan, I should have passed away."

Zu Tianshi did not shy away from these things, but just nodded gently: "The decisions made by Bian Que are almost never wrong."

"If nothing unexpected happens, it will be this winter."

Zhang Jue turned his head and looked at Zu Tianshi, and sighed again: "Once I die, I'm afraid there will be a brief turmoil in Dayu. I'll have to trouble you with all this."

He analyzed the current situation in Dayu.

"The only person in the imperial court who wants to compete with Cheng'er for the throne is probably my second brother who has lost his mind."

Zhang Jue sneered: "If he really has this ability, even if he learns from the ancient sages and gives the throne to him, what can he do? But..."

He sighed again: "My brother actually joined forces with that group of noble families and agreed to some "conditions" from those noble families in order to get their help and gain power."

Zhang Jue's expression was stern: "He has long forgotten that the reason we rose up in rebellion was precisely because these noble families were sucking blood from the common people, making it impossible for us to survive!"

At this point, Zhang Jue's voice had become sharp, and it was filled with the sounds of war!
He is different from Zhang Bao.

He was a man who had been through wind and rain, raised the Yellow Turban flag in the midst of war, and established Dayu under the siege of countless officers and soldiers!
Zu Tianshi's voice was still calm, but one could feel the "tranquility" before the storm from his words.

"Some people have lived a good life for too long, and naturally forget the way they came here."

"At this time, as long as you put a butcher's knife on his neck, he will remember the way he came here, cry about how difficult it was, and swear to find his original heart in the future."

The two looked at each other and heard the other's "anger" and "reason" in each other's words.

At the same time, a sneer sounded, echoing in the hall.

The tenth year of Tiantai.

The Emperor of Dayu issued an edict appointing "Zu Tianshi" as the "Prime Minister" of Dayu, concurrently serving as the "Order of the Secretariat", and conferring the title of Grand Master.

From then on, this ancestor of heaven, who came from the wind and raised the flag from the flames of war, officially took charge of all government affairs of Dayu.

After Zu Tianshi took over the government affairs, Dayu's economy developed in a good direction, and even the signs of "prosperity" could be vaguely seen.

The tenth year of Tiantai, winter.

It was in Zhuo County that the allied forces of Liu Bei and Cao Cao fought a large-scale war with Gongsun Zan.

The White Horse Volunteers led by Gongsun Zan fought desperately, but were eventually drowned in the vast ocean of allied forces.

Sometimes, when the combat effectiveness and quality of soldiers are almost the same, war becomes a game of "numbers". In the end, it is still a battle of numbers.

Especially when the quality of equipment, weapons, etc. of both sides are almost the same.

This was a crushing "war" with an indisputable outcome. Gongsun Zan was defeated, fled to the banks of the Yi River, and then committed suicide.

It has a somewhat whistling wind and cold Yishui River posture.

After Gongsun Zan died, to the surprise of everyone in the world, all of Youzhou was placed under the jurisdiction of Cao Cao.

Part of Jingzhou's forces that belonged to Cao Cao's camp were assigned to Liu Bei.

At this point, the world's power was completely divided into three parts, leaving only Dayu and the two Han dynasties.

In the eleventh year of Tiantai, the world was divided into three parts.

For a moment, this turbulent world seemed to have a tendency towards "unification". Although the world was divided into three parts, it was precisely because of the separatist rule of the three major forces that the people lived a relatively stable life.

Over in Chang'an, with Liu Bei taking over and the young emperor being so absorbed in sensual pleasures that he had no time to pay attention to state affairs, the people under the direct jurisdiction of Chang'an were able to live a fairly decent life, at least peace had been restored.

But the situation on the Langya Han side is a bit complicated. The struggle between the emperor and Cao Cao seems to have entered a white-hot stage.

There were forces of both the emperor and Cao Cao in the court. Of course, the forces loyal to the emperor were relatively "weak" and could not compete with Cao Cao's forces. Under such circumstances, the life of the Langya Han was barely acceptable.

As for Dayu, its people live the best among the three forces. Perhaps it is because it is a "newborn" country, so all the systems here have not yet decayed.

The newborn country was full of vitality, and the emperor and the prime minister had a very good relationship with each other. There was even no fighting in the court for a while.

Among the three parties, the people of Dayu lived such a good life that the people in the sphere of influence of Liu Bei and Cao Cao began to envy them. Later, some people who really could not make a living gritted their teeth and quietly began to migrate "south" with their belongings.

The movement of one or two people to the south certainly cannot be considered "migration", but what if these people led one another and even formed a wave that forced Cao Cao and Liu Bei to enact laws to stop the people from leaving?

That would be considered migration.

In the seventh-grade "Ancient Chinese History" textbook of later generations, in the section about the "Three Kingdoms", there is a special section recording this "migration", and they have a special name in history.

"The first large-scale population migration in Chinese history."

This is the description in the textbook.

"In 207 AD, which was the eleventh year of Tiantai in history, as the economies of various countries developed, the lives of the people in different countries gradually became significantly different."

"At that time, the domestic politics of the Dayu Dynasty, which had not yet been unified, was clear and the emperor was diligent in government affairs. The "Ancestor Heavenly Master" who was the prime minister at the time also showed his strong ability to govern the country. He governed Dayu in an orderly manner. For a time, it even looked like the heyday of the Han Dynasty at its peak."

"Under such a comparison, the Liu Han and Cao Han dynasties at this time did not seem so outstanding."

"As a result, a large number of people fled south, including hundreds of thousands who fled to Dayu. This also formed the first large-scale population migration wave in Chinese history."

"This kind of migration behavior was fleeing from the Central Plains to the territory of Dayu at that time. Many people from the north, the Central Plains, and the coast chose to flee to Linjing City, which was the capital of Dayu at that time. After fleeing to Dayu, these people were quickly recognized as Dayu's population and then began to live in Dayu."

"At that time, the main forces of Dayu were entrenched in the southern part of our country. The area was vast and sparsely populated, and the technology there was not as advanced as that in the Central Plains."

"The continuous migration of people from the north and the Central Plains to the south not only provided a large number of laborers to the south at that time, but also brought advanced production tools and production technologies from the Central Plains, thus enabling the development of the southern region with superior natural geographical conditions and rapid economic development."

"At that time, the southern region governed by Dayu was politically clear, so the expansion of cultivated land was much more relaxed than in the north. And because of the policies and governance of Zhang Jue, the first emperor of Dayu, the society was relatively stable."

"With the joint efforts of the immigrants and local people, a large amount of wasteland was reclaimed, the cultivated land area continued to increase, and many water conservancy projects were built. Agricultural production technology has also been greatly improved."

"Under such social conditions, the 'Mohist disciples' who were entrenched in the Central Plains at the time quickly came to the south with their production tools, attracting a large number of skilled craftsmen in the south, and production technology was greatly improved."

"During this period, the economy of the South developed rapidly and began to reach a stage where it was on par with the North."

“And the once-popular ‘Yu Brocade’ also appeared at this time.”

"With the stabilization of Dayu, the handicraft industry in the south has also made great progress, with significant developments in silk reeling, weaving, porcelain making, iron smelting, shipbuilding, papermaking, salt making, and other aspects."

"The first southern metropolis in Chinese history that could rival the northern cities of Guandu and Chang'an was Linjing City, which was later known as Yuzhang City." - Excerpt from Chinese Ancient History, Grade 7.

With such a lively development, Dayu's national strength is naturally growing.

When Dayu is happy, some people will naturally be unhappy.

For example, Cao Cao.

In the eleventh year of Tiantai, when Dayu was at a critical moment of development, Cao Cao and Liu Bei joined forces and the size of their alliance expanded again.

They were unwilling to see Dayu continue to develop peacefully in this way, so they decided to lead the army south to attack the city of Linjing.

They want to join forces to destroy Dayu.

And in such a precarious situation, a major event happened in Dayu.

Zhang Jue is critically ill.

In Linjing City
Crown Prince Zhang Cheng sat in the East Palace with a worried look on his face. He began to be afraid.

At this time, he was not yet ready to take over this huge empire, nor was he ready to deal with his second uncle, but his father fell ill at this time!

The world-famous doctors "Bian Que" and "Hua Tuo" have already entered the palace, but at this time, no news has come out of the Qinzheng Palace! How can this half-grown boy not be afraid?

Zhang Cheng stood up suddenly with a determined look on his face.

"I want to see my father!"

But before he could walk out of the hall, a eunuch came hurriedly from outside with a panicked look on his face.

"Your Highness!"

"Your Majesty summons you!"

In the city of Linjing, the General's Mansion
Zhang Bao looked at the guards in front of him with an unpleasant expression, and a hint of rage flashed across his eyes: "Why don't you let me leave the house?"

In front of him, the guards stood still: "This is His Majesty's order. If you have any questions, you can wait for His Majesty to summon you."

Inside the Geunjeongjeon Hall
Zhang Jue was lying on the bed, with Zu Tianshi standing beside him who was already ready.

When Zhang Cheng rushed in, Zhang Jiao held his hand and asked him to recognize Zu Tianshi as his "father", and told Zhang Cheng the true identity of "Zu Tianshi".

In fact, when Zu Tianshi became the prime minister at the beginning, Zhang Cheng was a little dissatisfied, thinking that his father was senile and confused. But later, after seeing his thunder-like methods, he stopped saying anything and instead supported Zu Tianshi.

However, after learning the true identity of this person today
Zhang Chengcai realized how great the decision his father made was!
His hand was pulled by Zhang Jue and placed in the hand of Zu Tianshi.

A sigh was heard from within the hall.

Along with this sigh, the founder of the Taiping Dao, the Great Sage Teacher, the Most Holy Heavenly Master, the General Tiangong, and the founding monarch of Dayu passed away quietly in history.

The eleventh year of Tiantai.

Zhang Jiao, the Emperor of Dayu, died in Linjing City at the age of sixty-three.

His posthumous title was "Shenggao" and his temple name was "Taizu".

Later generations called it

Yu Taizu, also known as Emperor Yu Shenggao Taizu.

(End of this chapter)