The Rise of History’s Most Powerful Empire

After a long and hard campaign, the soldiers returned home.

This was the situation of the Han Dynasty's army.

Starting with February 184 A.D., the nation had been at war with itself, its people in disarray. 

They killed officials, burned and looted all over the country. Within a month, the Yellow Turban Army was in 28 regions of seven states. It reached a point where the guarding soldiers fled and shook the capital with this news. 

All the officials and gentry banded together to preserve their way of life. 

They joined forces with the local resistance and proposed to the court to quell the rebellion.

The villagers affected by the rebels' plundering and destruction formed their own volunteer army.

The local clans helped these armies with money and food, troops and weapons. They sent out their clan's best to organize them and with a little training, brought them against the Yellow Turban Army.

The Han Dynasty formed hundreds of thousands of troops in a short time and the Yellow Turban Army was pacified swiftly.

It took nine months for the millions in the Yellow Turban Army to be squashed.

A bloody example for progenity, of what an aimless army's fate laid in store.

The half year of fighting left just 200,000 troops alive, all exhausted and fed up with war. All they wanted was peace.

The court denied them rest however, having realized there was a Qiang rebellion in Xiliang.

THe imperial cemetery and his rear was threatened. The enemy had to be subdued for a good functioning of the dynasty.

No rest for the wicked. The 200,000 had to keep fighting another rebellion.

Except for a few thousands left to guard the counties, the rest went to Guanzhong to quell their next enemy of Great Han. 

The common foot soldier was discontentto say the least, while the generals were eager to build their careers. A war was a prime chance to go up in the world.

The soldiers resented their officer's treatment, a total disregard for their opinions, and the generals complained his men refused to fight.

As the clashes were more and more, something gave. In a battle at Guanzhong, many soldiers neglected their duties and the army collapsed at first contact with the rebels. 

The entire Guanzhong situation was chaos. Some soldiers fled, others joined the rebels, with more such events happening as time passed. The imperial army was in peril.

The generals took the losses as their troops' fault, further amplifying discontent.

The anger and conflict grew to a boil until one night, when the soldiers united.

They would raise their torches one night and kill the general, then march with Xiliang's rebellion on the broken dynasty to destroy the corruption of this nation.

"Kill!"

Following some renowned figures, the soldiers rose up under one heart, they swooped down like dark clouds on the commanding tent.

In February 185 A.D., the soldiers, weary of war, were forced into a mutiny by their generals.

Dozens of generals were killed along with 60,000 more soldiers. The remaining 10,000 rebels fled to Xiliang, where they joined the local rebellion.

The Xilian army capitalized on the court army's unrest by sending 30,000 cavalry on it.

Of the 50,000 troops only 20,000 managed to flee to the Great Wall, from which they sent a cry for help to the court.

Except for the rare counties around Chang'an, the entirety of Guanzhong was in the rebels' hands.

Three days later, news arrived that there were merely 20,000 men left of the court army.

Emperor Ling, enjoying a life of wine and bounty in his palace, flew into a rage. He ordered the officials to come up with a plan to stem the rebels.

After an urgent meeting, the officials sent money and food to raise an army of 100,000 for Chang'an.

The suppressed clans of Guanzhong were once again in power, but how could the clans of Guangdong let such a feud go unanswered?

The clans were selling their lives to pacify the rebellion even more than with the Yellow Turbans.

The yellow turbans just plundered a bit and did not affect the real clans of the nations.

These top clans could pull out thousands of armors from their reserves. And thanks to the good local reputations, thousands more joined under their banner.

A force of dozens of clans was practically a relentless army.

And these clans were joined by marriage at some point in their history. It was more than enough to unite.

Any that infringed on their interests would have to fight all of them.

Just like Wang Mang two hundred years ago. He had a policy in place that made the clan's interest be spread among the people. The clans distorted the decree in ways it made it unusable.

But realizing nothing would stop Wang Mang's will, they revolted. They overthrew him and placed another dynasty that upheld their wishes.

The Han Dynasty had thus been renewed by the coming of the Eastern Han Dynasty, nothing more than a puppet.

The Guanzhong's clans were the victims of Wang Mang's change of dynasty. Having stood on the wrong side, he was taken down by Guandong's clans and Liu Xiu.

Guanzhong was ever prosperous in the Western Han Dynasty, but soon turned into Xiliang of today, barren and with sparse people. How could the clans of Guangzongng let those of Guanzhong rise? They wanted to avoid becoming like them, of course.

The clans found that fighting the rebel army made of Xiliang's clans was easier to deal with than even the Yellow Turban Army.