People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 112 Calling Father
On a small mountain trail, a team of three to four thousand people set up a temporary campsite. They only dared to light a fire, cook, and take turns to rest after nightfall. The sentries they sent out were deployed a mile or two away. They were extremely alert, like a group of frightened birds.

It is not their fault. They were chased by the Yellow Turbans all the way here. If they are not vigilant enough, I am afraid that the last bit of their troops will be lost.

In the main tent of the camp, Tian Chou and Zhang Chun sat opposite each other. Both of them had gloomy faces and did not say a word for a long time.

This defeat was so great that it was hard to accept. They did not understand many things, such as what was the object that was struck by lightning, how did the vicious dog behind him break free from its restraints, and what was Tian Yu doing?

They have no way of knowing the answers to these questions now, but they have to accept the cruel reality.

"We have fought with all our might to win this battle. Now we have been defeated. Even if we gather the defeated soldiers and save more than 3,000 or 4,000 people, I am afraid it is not enough for you and me to protect ourselves. This loss is too great to bear!"

Tian Chou looked dejected, no longer as confident as he once was. The huge sense of frustration had destroyed his spirit.

There are only three or four thousand people left. What can they do? Even if they can gather a few more during the subsequent escape, it cannot change the fact of the disastrous defeat.

The most terrifying thing about defeat is the blow to one's own reputation and strength. Many powerful people in Youbeiping will probably feel resentment towards the Tian family.

The reason why this battle could be put together on such a large scale was that Tian had brought together all the powerful people in Youbeiping. However, they were working hard for you to enjoy the good life, not to suffer with you. Now, such a result is something that many powerful people cannot accept in any way.

Although Zhang Chun was depressed, he was not as upset as Tian Chou. He even felt a bit gloating when he saw Tian Chou's dying expression.

Zhang had already suffered a great disaster, and he only had these thousand soldiers left, nothing more to lose.

On the contrary, seeing that Tian was dragged into this time by him, he didn't know why, but he suddenly felt balanced.

"Zi Tai, cheer up. We are a big family in Youzhou, how can we let a few bandits bully us? Go back and regroup, and come again!" Zhang Chun pretended to persuade him, and he seemed to be concerned.

However, Tian Chou shook his head, with deep worry in his eyes: "After this battle, Youbeiping is seriously injured, and our Tian family dare not look west. I am afraid we will have to live in peace with the bandits."

Zhang Chun fell silent upon hearing this. He was of course very aware of this reality.

Zhang Chun couldn't be happy at all when he thought that the Yellow Turbans would take advantage of this war to gain a firm foothold and his goal of restoring his family business would become even further away. He was afraid that the Yellow Turbans would become increasingly difficult to deal with in the future.

He said, "Brother Xianyu died in battle, and the Yellow Turbans have taken over several counties in the south, including the large county of Yuyang. From now on, we can no longer treat Xu Guangtou as a small thief. This guy will become a big bandit."

The big tent fell silent for a moment. The two men looked at each other, feeling extremely heavy in their hearts.

If this group of Yellow Turbans became a huge bandit, they would be much more terrifying than the previous Yellow Turbans who had coerced the people. As the aristocratic families around this huge bandit, they felt deeply the pressure of survival.

Xu Guangtou was enjoying his meal, and he might look around at any time.
"The Yellow Turbans in Youzhou are well-organized and have gained the support of the people in the areas they govern. In less than a year, they have taken root in Yuyang and cannot be shaken. Although they are not as powerful as Zhang Jue, they are more dangerous.

The bandits have become a huge bandit, and we are not capable of dealing with them. We can only report to the court and request troops to suppress them, or entrust civil and military officials to take charge of the local areas. Only in this way can we unite the strength of the prefectures and counties and defeat the bandits before they start to gain momentum!"

Tian Chou's eyes were deep, he had already seen the future where the Yellow Turbans would bully people in Youzhou.

Perhaps in the short term, the Yellow Turbans will not pose a threat to Youbeiping and the Tian family, but after a year or two, my worries will definitely become a reality.

At this moment, his eyes couldn't help but look at a book on the table, and then a deep fear appeared in the depths of his eyes.

Because of this book, he gained a new understanding of the Yellow Turbans in Youzhou.

This is a thread-bound book made of paper. When he seized it, what surprised him most was not the rare paper book itself, but the contents of the book.

The characters in the book were obviously heavily simplified based on existing characters. Although they were not quite the same, he could understand most of them based on the context and the shape of the characters. It was precisely because he understood it that he felt shocked.

This book, called "General Basic Textbook of Natural Taoism", not only contains some basic mathematics and textual knowledge, but also a detailed explanation of the so-called natural religion, and expresses the natural Tao's understanding of the world, as well as the methods of natural religion practice.

Tian Chou felt that the overall content of the Natural Way was novel but simple. He could see that this was a sectarian framework that was not yet perfect enough.

But when it came to the teachings of naturalism, he was terrified.

It turns out that Xu Guangtou slaughtered the wealthy families and divided the land, and said that everyone is equal, but it is not something he can do just by thinking about it.

Instead, he has a systematic and detailed argument for all behavioral logics, and he tells the world clearly why the natural way does these things and what it will achieve in the future. These texts try to analyze the tragic roots of the lower-class civilians from a pure, cold and objective perspective. It starts with the pre-Qin aristocratic system, exposes all the evil and deceptive things, and allows people to see the cruel social rules very clearly.

What naturalism needs to do is an institutional change. It will no longer use some abstract and illusory things to build its own legitimacy, but will use the completely universal concept of pursuing equality and defending rights to guide its path.

He used the most straightforward words to tell the world that the cause of nature is absolutely just.

Tian Chou thought this was terrifying.
He believed that any common person at the bottom of society, as long as they were exposed to and understood this doctrine, would find it difficult not to convert to the natural way. If he were also a member of the miserable masses, he would certainly throw himself into it without hesitation.

Unfortunately, I am a noble family and a scholar, an enemy of the naturalist doctrine, and a sinner in the eyes of the naturalist.
The Yellow Turbans must be eliminated, and must be eliminated urgently. This fire must not be started at any cost. If we cannot do it ourselves, we must rely on the power of the Han court.

Zhang Chun hesitated for a moment and said, "I can ask for help, but the Han Dynasty is in chaos, and I don't know if the court has the energy to even look at this Guangtou Xu."

Tian Chou knew that Zhang Chun's approach at the core was more wild than Tian's, so it was more appropriate for him to take charge.

As for Zhang Chun's doubts, he was not worried: "Send this book to the court, I believe the court will respond."

Zhang Chun and Tian Chou, who were fleeing in panic, were worrying about the future, while the Yellow Turbans were already enjoying the joy after the victory of the war.

After this battle, the Yellow Turbans captured and pursued eight to nine thousand defeated allied forces.

Population is actually a huge resource. Especially since Youzhou is a border area with insufficient population, this population replenishment is even more important.

Not to mention the coalition forces' food and baggage. Although the coalition forces set fire to and destroyed property before breaking out, the Yellow Turbans still quickly transferred out a lot of it, and the spoils were countless.

The Yellow Turbans then began to clean up the battlefield, collect corpses, treat the wounded, and settle the prisoners for reform. Each task was carried out in an orderly manner.

At this time, the basic education over the past six months began to show results, and many things that were previously difficult to do could now be done by the Yellow Turbans.

For example, when it comes to calculating salaries and pensions, the officers below can take the forms and check each one of them with the soldiers in the newspaper. And when it comes to counting and registering captured items, there are generally no mistakes.

Now that the natural religion's governance system is gradually improving and the quality of personnel is slowly improving, Xu Chen, as a leader, can naturally feel much more relaxed.

Until now, Xu Chen no longer interferes in any specific affairs, but truly fulfills his responsibilities as a leader to control the general direction of the organization. This is an inevitable process for an organization to mature.

After the war, Xu Chen inspected many post-war matters and called Wang Dang over. Wang Dang made great contributions to the great victory of this battle.

"I originally only thought that you could delay the enemy and draw away some of their forces, but I didn't expect you to rush back to the front battlefield to reinforce them. If you hadn't come back at the critical moment, I'm afraid this battle would not have ended so easily."

When Xu Liang saw Wang Dang, he happily walked over and grabbed him, unable to suppress the smile on his face.

What he said was not just nice words. Although his design caught the coalition forces off guard, the coalition forces still had the last 3,000 central troops to support them. As long as they could stop the Yellow Turbans from leaving the city, they could still regroup. The only thing is that the casualties would be heavy.

Being able to take advantage of this opportunity to inflict maximum damage to the enemy was already the greatest effect Xu Chen had expected. He had never thought that he could defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

Therefore, the appearance of Wang Dang was not only a surprise to the coalition forces, but also to himself. It was this surprise that finally broke the balance and helped the Yellow Turbans to achieve victory in one fell swoop.

Looking back, Wang Dang certainly made great contributions, otherwise this battle would have been very difficult to win.

"These guys just want to keep me under control by sending 3,000 people. They simply don't treat me as a human being. I won't be polite to them!"

Wang Dang laughed, feeling very benefited from the leader's affirmation. After saying this proudly, he pulled out another young general from his side.

"Of course, I was able to fight back, but it was also thanks to this kid. If he hadn't suddenly come and attack the enemy, I would have been able to fight back, but it would have taken a lot of time."

The young man looked honest and simple. He was not nervous when he saw Xu Chen. He just saluted to Xu Chen excitedly: "I am Lu Ping, greeting the leader!"

When Xu Chen saw this, he became a little confused. He had no arrangements to reinforce Wang Dang, so how did Lu Ping get there and actually helped Wang Dang escape from trouble and made a great contribution.

(End of this chapter)