Chapter 25 2. Years old in Jiazi, good luck in the world

The congregation of "Taiping Dao" planned to start the uprising on March 5th of the Jiazi Year (AD 184). For this reason, Ma Yuanyi, an important leader of the sect and the leader of Dafang, organized tens of thousands of congregants from Jing and Yangzhou to gather in Yecheng for an incident.He went to the capital several times in person, contacted the eunuchs Zhong Chang Shifeng, Xu Feng and others, and prepared to rise both inside and outside. However, the matter was not confidential. In February 184, another disciple of Zhang Jiao, Tang Zhou from Jinan, reported the matter to the imperial court.The Eastern Han government was shocked and acted quickly, arresting and killing Ma Yuanyi, and appointed Goudun Ling Zhou Bin to be fully responsible for investigating and solving the case. According to the clues provided by Tang Zhou's report, Zhou Bin arrested and killed more than a thousand Taiping Taoist members in Luoyang City.

The Eastern Han court also ordered local officials in Jizhou to hunt down Zhang Jiao and others.After Zhang Jiao heard the news, he knew that the situation had been leaked, so he had to send people out starry night to inform all parties to start the incident in advance.Taiping congregants wrapped their heads in yellow scarves as a sign, so they were called "yellow scarf thieves" by people at that time, and some were also called "moth thieves". Therefore, in February of this year, yellow turbans appeared everywhere in the Central Plains.In the cry of "the world is auspicious", a chaotic world that lasts for hundreds of years is about to come.

The three brothers Zhang Jiao started a rebellion in Hebei. Zhang Jiao was called "General Tiangong", Zhang Bao was called "General Digong", and Zhang Liang was called "General Rengong".Yellow Turban armies from all walks of life swarmed up, burned the government, looted Juyi, the state and county where they were located lost their power, and the officials fled. Within ten days, the whole country responded and the capital was shaken.The common people in Anping and Ganling, and even the princes and kings who had been enfeoffed by the Han Dynasty were arrested in response to the Yellow Turban Army.

"Taiping Dao" has been gaining momentum for more than ten years, and once it explodes, it can be said that the world will collapse.If it weren't for the fact that Zhongchang Shifeng, Xu Feng and others who were in charge of internal affairs had been arrested and killed first, and the Eastern Han Dynasty would have been difficult to survive for decades under the cooperation of internal and external forces. Yet history cannot be assumed. At the beginning of Emperor Han Ling's ascension to the throne, under the instigation of eunuchs, he carried out a large-scale ban, killing or imprisoning the Qingliu people in the court.This incident, known as the "Danggu" in history, marked the rise of eunuch power in the late Han Dynasty, and was also considered to be a harbinger of the demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty.Guo Tai, the leader of the imperial students at that time, said: "The "Poetry" says: 'The cloud of people perishes, and the country perishes'. The Han Dynasty is destroyed, but I don't know whose house it is!"

With traitors in power and Qingliu stopped, the Han Dynasty seems to be doomed, but we don't know who will die! The man who will lead the world's heroes in the future is still young at this time, and he has a perfect friendship with the Mr. Yuan Shao who later fought him to death in Guandu. Both of them are teenagers, like to be rangers, causing trouble everywhere.When someone married a new wife, these two guys sneaked into the owner's garden and shouted everywhere in the middle of the night: "There are thieves!" He hijacked his new daughter-in-law.On the way to escape, Yuan Shao, who was in a panic and fell into the thorns, was afraid of pain and did not dare to struggle.Our great hero was really amazing, he shouted on the spot: "Here is the thief!" When the pursuers heard the sound and rushed over, Yuan Shao was shocked, he didn't care about the pain, and jumped out.So both of them escaped smoothly.

Probably because of this, a few years later, he asked the big-eared thief Qingmei to cook wine in Xuchang. When the two talked about the heroes of the world, he would say carelessly: "Today, the only heroes in the world are the emperor and Cao Er! There are not enough disciples!" Who is the enemy of the heroes in the world?Cao Liu! At that time, the young Sun Zhongmou hadn't stepped onto the stage of history, so it's no wonder that these two people couldn't figure out who the third hero was, so they had to flatter each other and indulge themselves. These are all decades away.

When Zhang Jiao started the incident, these two heroes were in their prime of life, but their circumstances were very different: one was the commander of the regular army and had a distinguished family background; the other was just a straw sandal seller. He couldn't hide the fact that he was too poor. The Yellow Turban in front of him made an incident, which made Emperor Ling of Han very angry. why? Since ascension to the throne, the eunuchs have been saying in the emperor's ears that "partisans" have harmed the country and deceived the emperor, but now?Among the eunuchs around the emperor, there were internal responses from the "Taiping Dao", and what made the emperor even more angry was that even some of the "Ten Permanent Attendants" participated in the rebellion!It is the "party members" who have been slandered by them all day long, but I have never heard of a single person who participated in the "Taipingdao".Is this okay?

The political forces at that time were divided into three groups: one was eunuchs, the other was relatives, and the other was party members.Eunuchs have proven to be unreliable. Although relatives are relatively reassuring to the emperor, it seems that the high positions obtained through nepotism cannot prove that they have the corresponding ability-the only ones who can be used are the imprisoned "partisans" . The so-called "party members" were some well-known Qingliu people at that time, and they had a high appeal among the government and the opposition.For example, the most important "party member" Li Ying, people at that time were proud of being interviewed by him, calling it "climbing the dragon's gate"; another example was Zhang Jian, after the "party prison" incident, he took shelter at the door and fled everywhere. There are people everywhere who are willing to take him in at the risk of taking him in—for example, Kong Rong's family competed to plead guilty for taking Zhang Jian in. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty Zhang Jian Biography" states: "In his experience, there are more than ten people who have been punished, all clan relatives have been wiped out, and counties and counties have been destroyed."At the height of the "Dang Gu" that year, even the well-known Du Liao General Huangfu Gui felt quite regretful that he was not listed as a "Party Member".

So at this time, Huangfusong, Huangfugui's nephew, took the opportunity to suggest to Emperor Ling that the ban on the party should be lifted. Lu Qiang, the Zhongchang servant, also said: "The party has been imprisoned for a long time, and human feelings and resentment are not forgiven. , Regret is hopeless. Now please punish those who are corrupt and corrupt, and amnesty the party members. If Jian Shishi and two thousand stones can be used, then the robbery will be all right." Lingdi ordered the world to lift the ban on the party at their suggestion. .This decision was supported by people all over the world, and objectively laid the foundation for the Eastern Han government to quell the Yellow Turban Uprising.

Before lifting the ban on the party, the Eastern Han government also ordered the prefectures and counties to build offensive and defensive equipment, simplify equipment, and set up captains at eight passes including Hangu, Dagu, Guangcheng, Yique, Yuan, Xuanmen, Mengjin, and Xiaopingjin. , to defend the capital Luoyang.At the same time, the emperor raised military expenses out of his own pocket and supplemented the troops with stable horses from the West Garden. Although already crumbling, the Eastern Han government was far from decayed to the point of being vulnerable.