The sky is dead, and the yellow sky is standing.
Years in the nails, the world is auspicious.
Speaking of the famous uprisings in ancient China, I believe that the "Yellow Turban Uprising" will definitely occupy a place. Many people are also willing to set the starting point of the Three Kingdoms period in a broad sense at the time of the "Yellow Turban Uprising". The "Yellow Turban Rebellion" did not last long, but the impact was extensive and far-reaching, and the large-scale rebellion led to the Eastern Han Court having to delegate power to various states and counties to promote the division of the situation at that time; the "nourishment" of the Yellow Turban Army also contributed to the growth of some warlords and participation in the battlefield of the Central Plains. Therefore, the "Yellow Turban Rebellion" is the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period, and there is some truth to this statement. So how did the "Yellow Turban Uprising", which had the potential to sweep the world, be calmed down in just nine months?
The dormant phase of the Yellow Turban Army
The "Yellow Turban Uprising" was a peasant uprising with strong religious overtones. In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, eunuchs and foreign relatives above the court pulled on imperial power and frequent infighting; local officials and magnates colluded with each other, and eunuch henchmen committed misdeeds; at the same time, border troubles and rebellions occurred frequently, which was a dark and tired era. In times like these, people often need spiritual comfort to bring fertile soil for the development and spread of religion. A group of careerists used religion as a tool to gather the strength of the disciples in the chaotic world. In fact, Zhang Jiao is not the only one, and may not even be the earliest, but it is indeed the most famous and widely developed religious leader.
"Canon Strategy": "In Xi Pingzhong, the demon thief rises up, and the three auxiliaries have Luo Yao." In the light and the middle, there is a zhangjiao in the east and a zhang in the Han. ”
Zhang Jiao developed the Taiping Dao in such a way that he called himself a "great sage and good teacher" and held a nine-knotted staff to treat patients. First let the patient reflect on his mistakes and take a kind of "rune water". If the patient's body improves, it is said that the person heals himself because he believes in the Taiping Tao; if it does not work, it is said that the person does not believe in the Tao and is not sincere. Zhang Jiao probably really had a means of treating diseases with medicine, coupled with the logic of "two-end blockage", the Taiping Dao slowly developed. Zhang Jiao sent eight more backbone personnel to preach in this way to the states and counties. In the more than ten years of preparation, the number of disciples of the Taiping Dao reached hundreds of thousands, covering youzhou, Jizhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou, almost a small half of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
"Canon Law": "Whoever is sick or healed by drinking it with water is ignorant of the Tao, then he who believes in the Tao, or who does not heal, is unbelieving." ”
The Later Han Dynasty Book of Emperor Fusong's Biography: "For more than ten years, hundreds of thousands of disciples, connecting counties and kingdoms, people from The Eight Prefectures of Ziqing, Xu, You, Ji, Jing, Yang, Yan, and Yu. ”
Taiping Dao hastily revolted, and thirty-six "moth thieves" were rushing to the scene
In the first year of Zhongping (i.e., 184 AD), Zhang Jiao saw that the time was ripe and finally began to plan an uprising. The slogan put forward by Zhang Jiao was "The sky is dead, the yellow sky is standing, the age is in the nails, and the world is auspicious." Among them, "Yellow Heaven" refers to the new regime founded by Zhang Jiao, which also has the shadow of "five virtues always speaking", the virtue of the Eastern Han Dynasty is Tude, and the algorithm of the virtue of the dynasty after the end of the Western Han Dynasty is Xiangsheng, fire is born of earth, and Zhang Jiao uses the "Yellow Heaven" representing Tude; 184 AD is the year of Jiazi. All in all, Zhang Jiao's purpose was to overthrow the Han Dynasty and propose a new theocratic regime.
To this end, Zhang Jiao made a careful plan, organizing thirty-six troops, the larger ones were 10,000 or tens of thousands, and the smaller ones were 60,000 or 7,000 people, with a total of more than 360,000. The Marshal Ma Yuanyi entered Luoyang to contact Zhongchang Andi Fengchen and Xu Feng, and agreed to revolt on March 5. As a result, there were traitors in Taiping Dao, Tang Zhou sent out the rebellion, and the Han Ling Emperor successfully eliminated the Taiping Daoist disciples in Luoyang, snuffed out the opportunity for Zhang Jiaoli to cooperate with the outside world, and also caused the "Yellow Turban Rebellion" to start a hasty uprising, a month earlier.
The "Yellow Turban Uprising" covers a wide range and can be roughly divided into four battlefields, namely the Jizhou Battlefield, the Nanyang Battlefield, the Yuzhou Battlefield, and the Yanzhou Battlefield. In order to read more intuitively, Xiaobian narrates these battlefields separately.
Jizhou Battlefield
Zhang Jiao is a giant deer man in Jizhou, and Jizhou is the base camp of the Yellow Turban Army. Zhang Jiao raised his army in Wei County, Jizhou, in addition to Wei County, Anping County and Qinghe County, northeast of Wei County, echoed Zhang Jiao, and this Yellow Turban force should be relatively strong and a greater threat to Luoyang. Emperor Ling of Han ordered Lu Zhi to lead the five colonels of the Northern Army (Eastern Han Forbidden Army, Tun Riding, Yue Horse, Infantry, Changshui, and Archery), plus county soldiers recruited from various prefectures and counties, to enter the Yellow Turban of Jizhou.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Wushu, Sun Breaking the Rebellion": "In the first year of Zhongping, the Yellow Turban Thief Zhang Jiao began in Wei County. ”
The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: "His men had thirty-six parties, all wearing yellow scarves, rebelled on the same day. The anping and Ganling people each held their own kings in response. ”
The Later Han Shu Lu Zhi Biography: "In the first year of Zhongping, the Yellow Turban Thieves rose up, and the Four Provinces raised plants... The five colonels of the Northern Army were sent to the counties of the world to recruit them. ”
Although the Yellow Turban Army was huge and numerous, it did not carry out sufficient military training before the incident, and its equipment was relatively lacking, and there was still a certain gap in combat effectiveness compared with the forbidden army and the county soldiers. Therefore, the Yellow Turban Army was unfavorable in the war when facing Lu Zhi, and withdrew to Guangzong County, Julu County. Lu Zhi besieged Guangzong and made a ladder to prepare for the siege. At this time, Emperor Hanling sent the eunuch Zuo Feng to observe the war in Jizhou, Lu Zhi refused to bribe Zuo Feng, and Zuo Feng went back to rumor to Emperor Han Ling, saying that Lu Zhi had deliberately delayed the fighter. Emperor Hanling believed it to be true and replaced Lu Zhi with Dong Zhuo as a general, but he was defeated.
The Later Han Dynasty Book of Dong Zhuo's Biography: "(Dong Zhuo) attacked Zhang Jiao on behalf of Lu Zhi in Lower Quyang, and the army was defeated to compensate for the crime. ”
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu, Dong Zhuo Biography": "Moving the general of langzhong, begging for the yellow turban, the army was defeated to atone for the crime." ”
Lu Zhi and Dong Zhuo failed one after another, and after pacifying Yuzhou and Yanzhou, Emperor Fusong led an army to attack Guangzong. At this time, Zhang Jiao had died of illness, and the leader of the Yellow Turban of Guangzong was Zhang Jiao's younger brother "Rengong General" Zhang Liang, and there was also a Yellow Turban in Xiaquyang County, Julu County, headed by Zhang Jiao's younger brother "Digong General" Zhang Bao. In October of the first year of Zhongping, Emperor Fusong attacked Guangzong at night and defeated Zhang Liang's forces; in November, together with the giant deer Taishou Guo Dian, he captured Quyang and defeated Zhang Bao. From February to November of the first year of Zhongping, the Yellow Turban of Jizhou lasted for nine months to resist Lu Zhi, Dong Zhuo, and Huang Fusong, three famous generals of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the three leaders Zhang Jiao fell ill and died, and Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang were killed in battle.
The Later Han Dynasty Book of Emperor Fusong's Biography: "(Emperor Fusong) is a soldier who sneaks into the night, and the chicken chisels to its Chen, and when the battle reaches the dawn, it is broken, and the beam is cut... Song Fu and Julu Taishou Feng Yi Guo Dian attacked The Horned Brother Bao yu in Lower Quyang and beheaded him. ”
Nanyang Battlefield
In March of the first year of Zhongping, Zhang Mancheng, the commander of the Yellow Turban Canal in Nanyang County, Jingzhou, proclaimed himself a "divine envoy" and killed Taishou Chugong to revolt. This Nanyang Yellow Turban has tens of thousands of people and occupies Wancheng. In June of the first year of Zhongping, Nanyang Taishou Qin Jie defeated the Nanyang Yellow Turban and beheaded Zhang Mancheng; the Nanyang Yellow Turban also elected Zhao Hong as the commander of the canal, and the power was even stronger, and the number rolled to more than 100,000 (there may be a return of the Yellow Turban Yu Party in Yuzhou).
After pacifying the Yellow Turban of Yuzhou, Zhu Juan, together with Qin Jie and Jingzhou Assassin Shi Xuxuan, besieged the Yellow Turban of Nanyang with 18,000 men and beheaded Zhao Hong; the Yellow Turban of Nanyang elected Han Zhong as the commander of the canal. In the face of the Yellow Turban of Nanyang led by Han Zhong, Zhu Juan used the method of attacking the west from the east to attract the main force of the Yellow Turban Army by pretending to attack the southwest, and he himself led 5,000 elite troops to raid the northeast, successfully attacking Wancheng, and Han Zhong retreated to the small city. Zhu Juan withdrew the siege again, deliberately allowed Han Zhong to break through, and then took the opportunity to attack Han Zhong. The Yellow Turban Army was defeated and Han Zhong surrendered, but was killed by Qin Jie. As a result, the Yellow Turban Yu Party rebelled, elected Sun Xia as the commander of the canal, and recaptured Wancheng. Zhu Juan once again defeated Sun Xia, which was a complete pacification of the Nanyang Yellow Turban. From March to November of the first year of The Southern Yang Dynasty, after eight months, four chieftains appeared successively, Zhang Mancheng, Zhao Hong, Han Zhong, and Sun Xia, with more than 100,000 people at their peak.
Battlefield of Yuzhou
The main areas of activity of the Yellow Turban in Yuzhou are Yingchuan County, Dong County, Runan County, and Chen Guo. Huang Fusong and Zhu Juan had a total of 40,000 men, each leading a force. Yingchuan was the closest to Luoyang and was naturally the first target of the Eastern Han Officials. Zhu Juan first made contact with Yingchuan Yellow Turban Bocai, but was defeated, and Emperor Fusong changed his attack to defense and occupied Yingchuan Changshe. BoCai took advantage of the situation to counterattack the officers and troops, and Huang Fusong saw the mistake of yingchuan yellow turban "camping according to the grass", and decisively adopted the method of fire attack and successfully defeated Bocai. Subsequently, Emperor Fusong and Zhu Juan took advantage of the victory to attack the Yellow Turban of Chen Guo and the Yellow Turban of Runan, and both won the victory. From February or March to June of the first year of Zhongping, the Yellow Turban of Yuzhou experienced a maximum of four months, and once defeated Zhu Juan, but suffered a major defeat at Changshe, and was the first of the four battlefields to be pacified. It is worth mentioning that due to the suppression of Liu Pet, the king of Chen, the strength of the Yellow Turban of Chen Guo was relatively weak.
The Later Han Shu Huangfu Song Biography: "Let the sharp soldiers idle outside the siege, set fire to the shouts, and set the city on fire... Song and Junsheng entered Runan, Chen Guo's Yellow Turban. ”
The Later Han Dynasty Book of Filial Piety and the Eight Kings of The Chronicle: "The people of the country have heard (Chen) Wang Shanzhi and do not dare to rebel, so Chen alone is finished, and more than 100,000 people have returned to him." ”
Yanzhou Battlefield
Compared with other battlefields, the Yanzhou battlefield is somewhat lackluster. After the Yellow Turbans of the three counties of Yuzhou were restored, Huang Fusong and Zhu Juan were ordered to pacify the Yellow Turban of Yanzhou East County and the Yellow Turban of Nanyang in Jingzhou, respectively. In August of the first year of Zhongping, Emperor Fusong led an army to defeat the Yellow Turban of Dong Commandery and captured Qu Shuai Buji. Then Emperor Fusong rushed to the battlefield of Jizhou.
The Later Han Shu Huangfu Song Biography: "He also attacked the Yellow Turban Bu Ji in Dong County, and beheaded more than 7,000 people. ”
Afterword
The "Yellow Turban Uprising" was prepared for more than ten years, but the stage of its outbreak was only nine months. However, the Eastern Han court did not completely pacify the Yellow Turban Army, and there were still Yellow Turban revivals since then, and there were also large and small Yellow Turban remnants in various states and counties. After experiencing the "Yellow Turban Rebellion" and other uprisings and riots, the Eastern Han Dynasty was unable to control the situation under the whole world, and in the fifth year of Zhongping (that is, in 188 AD), the Han Ling Emperor took Liu Yan's suggestion of "abolishing Shi Limu" and set up a state pastor who combined the military and political power of a prefecture above the county guard, making it more convenient for ambitionists like Liu Yan to divide one side. At the same time, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Jian and others also participated in the process of quelling the "Yellow Turban Uprising" and accumulated a certain amount of political capital for themselves. All in all, the Yellow Turban Uprising, while quickly failing, had a profound impact on history.
References: Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Romance of the Three Kingdoms