People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 164 The Great Man Collapses
As time went by, several months seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye. Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan suffered a great defeat and were now carefully preparing to regroup. However, if they wanted to prepare a new army to attack the Yellow Turbans in the east, it would not be something that could be accomplished quickly.

The Yellow Turbans had just taken over the two counties of Liaodong and Guangyang, and had not yet digested them, but were now busy with construction.

Youzhou fell into a brief period of peace, and what finally broke this peace was not the two hostile parties in Youzhou at that time, but the Han court in Luoyang several months later.

In the Jiade Hall of the Nangong Palace in Luoyang, Liu Hong was lying on the bed. The majesty of the emperor he once had was gone, and now he only had a sick look on his face.

He is obviously only in his thirties, but now his face is flushed and his body is haggard, making him look like a man in his forties or fifties. All his energy and spirit have been drained by the disease.

The palace maids and eunuchs in the hall were all trembling, only Empress He, who was beside the sickbed, was wiping her tears while feeding Liu Hong medicine.

When the eunuchs standing nearby, led by Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang, saw Liu Hong's appearance, their faces showed even more anxiety and worry.

Their concern was not false at all and was definitely more sincere than Empress He's grief. After all, Liu Hong's life and death would really affect their personal safety.

If Liu Hong were gone, these eunuchs would lose their support and would be torn to pieces by those scholars who were eyeing them covetously, wouldn't they?
They hope more than anyone else that Liu Hong can be alive, live well, and preferably live to be a hundred years old.

But looking at the situation now, Liu Hong looks like he is about to die.

Who could have thought that the emperor, who was presiding over the military parade on the parade ground a few months ago, would suddenly fall ill.

"Your Majesty indulges in pleasure without restraint, and your energy has been greatly depleted. You have suddenly contracted this serious illness. I am afraid..."

After pulling the imperial physician aside and questioning him, this was the answer he got. Zhang Rang's originally fair face became as pale as wax.

The imperial physician did not explain it too clearly, nor did he dare to explain it too clearly, but how could Zhang Rang not understand?

After warning the imperial physician to keep his mouth shut and not reveal the patient's condition to anyone else, Zhang Rang went back and whispered something with the other eunuchs, who then looked visibly ugly.

They all realized what this meant for themselves, and that they might soon be in a very dangerous situation.

They looked around, and finally their eyes fell on Queen He.

When everyone in the hall was having different thoughts, Liu Hong finally woke up slowly. He himself seemed to be unaware of his condition.

The fact is that if the imperial physician is not forced, he would not dare to reveal the actual condition of the patient to others.

After waking up, Liu Hong first coughed violently for a while, and it took him a while to catch his breath with the concerned care of Empress He. At this time, he still remembered the duties of an emperor.

"How long have I been asleep? Is the court peaceful now?" Liu Hong asked while panting.

Zhang Rang hurried over and whispered, "Your Majesty has been asleep for two days. Everything in the court is stable and there are no special changes."

"What!" Liu Hong was shocked when he heard this. This made him cough again. After a while, he looked at Zhang Rang in disbelief: "I actually slept for two days!"

Zhang Rang lowered his head and said nothing, and actually began to sob softly.

Liu Hong was stunned, then turned to look at the other attendants, only to see that they all had a sad look on their faces.

Suddenly, Liu Hong realized the problem. He was afraid that his illness was far more serious than he thought.
For a moment, he was so confused that he didn't know what to do. The entire hall fell silent and the atmosphere became subtle and tense.

A group of eunuchs were very nervous. The reason they hinted and reminded Liu Hong was that he should make things clear before he left. In this way, they could also work hard to make things develop in a direction that was beneficial to them.

But this incident was too sudden for Liu Hong, and he had never anticipated it.

A few months ago, I was still conducting military drills on the parade grounds, dreaming of bringing peace to the world, but now I have to accept the end of my life?
Perhaps because he realized his condition, Liu Hong suddenly felt uncomfortable all over his body. His already limited strength became weaker and weaker, and breathing became increasingly difficult.

This frightened him and forced him to face reality.

"Draft a plan, draft a plan for me!"

When Liu Hong said this, everyone in the hall breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately a eunuch went to invite important officials in the court. Before this period of time, it was their turn to perform.

Needless to say, after Empress Liu cried for a while, she soon received a response from Liu Hong, who wanted to enthrone Liu Bian as the new emperor. This made Empress He feel relieved.

After that, a group of eunuchs looked at Liu Hong eagerly. Seeing this, Liu Hong naturally understood what this meant.

Although facing death suddenly was a sad thing, he did have deep feelings for the eunuchs around him, especially Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, who he regarded as his relatives.

Liu Hong had been fighting against the gentry all his life, so how could he not understand that without his care, the eunuchs would be easily strangled to death by the gentry.

After all, even when he was still alive, there were still some people in the noble families who wanted to purge the emperor. "Bian'er is too young to manage state affairs. Before he comes of age and takes charge of the government, you, the Empress Dowager, must take care of the country of our Liu family." Liu Hong began to speak with difficulty, but he still stood firm and began to explain things.

Some things cannot be written in the edict, so we can only make some arrangements in advance.

When he finished speaking, a flash of joy appeared in Empress He's eyes, but it was soon drowned by tears of sadness, and she just sobbed softly and agreed.

Liu Hong glanced at the eunuchs again, sighed, and told Empress He again: "It is certainly not easy for a woman like you to be in charge of state affairs. You can rely more on the eunuchs. They will not harm you, let alone Bian'er."

Upon hearing this, Empress He first looked at Liu Bian who was wiping his tears, then looked at the several attendants behind him who looked relaxed, and seemed to understand something.

She was not a particularly smart woman, but with many years of experience in the harem, she was no rookie.

Eunuchs need to rely on those in power to survive, so after I take power, I will become the best person for them to rely on.

It was false that Liu Hong let himself rely on eunuchs for state affairs, but it was true that he let himself take care of the eunuchs.

Empress He then nodded silently: "Your Majesty, I understand what you mean. I will take good care of the Liu family and Bian'er. This is of course inseparable from the help of the eunuchs."

After hearing what Empress He said, the eunuchs felt relieved, as they now had a place to stay.

Of course, Empress He didn't have to reject them. After all, the eunuchs' position meant that they had to depend on her. This would not be bad for either herself or Liu Bian. On the contrary, she could use them to control the gentry. Why not do it?

In just a few words, Liu Hong finished explaining everything, and thus all the eunuchs had been arranged.

Soon, officials from the court such as Grand Marshal Yuan Wei, General He Jin, and Minister Lu Zhi hurried to the hall. When they saw Liu Hong's current appearance, they all saluted with sad expressions.

This incident was also very sudden for them and caught them off guard.

Liu Hong's illness came too suddenly and severely. They had never imagined it to be so serious that he suddenly had to issue a will.

Liu Hong was in no mood to argue with the ministers. After most of the ministers had arrived, he began to dictate the will with great effort, and the clerk beside him wrote it down word for word.

Everything happened just as they had communicated before. Liu Bian was established as the new emperor of the Han Dynasty, and Empress He was named Empress Dowager He, who ruled the country from then on.

After all this was arranged, Liu Hong took his last breath. Empress Dowager He used trembling fingers to check his breath, and finally she threw herself on Liu Hong's body and burst into tears.

Everyone in the hall immediately knelt on the ground and cried bitterly together.

However, the Han emperor, who was only in his thirties, died so suddenly of illness that no one could react.

Although Liu Hong had made some arrangements before his death, things in the world often find it difficult to develop along the established path.

After everyone cried for a while, they came to their senses again and the atmosphere among the ministers and eunuchs began to become dangerous.

Without the eunuchs protecting Liu Hong, the ministers immediately became restless.

The long-lasting Party and Faction Persecution and the long-lasting struggle between scholars and eunuchs made the scholars and civil officials suffer a lot. Countless numbers of scholars fell into poverty and died because of eunuchs. The grudges and hatred between the two sides were higher than the sky and deeper than the sea!

They hated eunuchs to the core. They had no way to stop them when Liu Hong was alive. But now that Liu Hong is gone, the first thing that comes to their mind is to kill all the eunuchs!

The plan had already begun to take shape in their minds, and this also laid the groundwork for the turmoil in the Han Dynasty.

In the following months, the Han Dynasty court was in turmoil. Empress Dowager He took power and General He Jin immediately became the target of the gentry.

He Jin was instigated by the gentry to execute the eunuchs, but Empress He did not agree.

However, Empress He understood the situation better than her brother He Jin. Once the eunuchs were gone, and the new emperor was still young and she was just a woman, how could she suppress the powerful aristocrats and scholars in the future?

However, He Jin was so lured by the scholars that he lost his mind. He only wanted to follow the scholars to kill the eunuchs. Finally, at the suggestion of Yuan Shao, he summoned Dong Zhuo to the capital to help, and went to the palace again to persuade Empress Dowager He. However, this time the eunuchs got wind of the news and took the initiative to kill He Jin.

From then on, the situation got completely out of control. Fights broke out in the palace, and eventually all the eunuchs in the palace were killed. Liu Bian and Prince of Chenliu, who fled in a hurry, were captured by Dong Zhuo who arrived in a hurry. A new chapter for the Han Dynasty thus began.

Just a few days after Dong Zhuo entered the capital, he could not wait to force Empress Dowager He to depose and enthrone a new emperor. The order of the court had been completely destroyed, and the dignity of the Han Dynasty was completely trampled under Dong Zhuo's feet.

If Liu Hong knew what would happen next, he would never have imagined that the Han Dynasty would completely collapse just four or five months after his death.

(End of this chapter)