<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > introduction</h1>
Zhongshan merchants Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang and others paid thousands of dollars, and sold horses around Zhuo County, seeing different things, but many of them had gold and wealth. The lord is to use the disciples. - Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Second Biography of the First Lord
In 184 AD, Zhang Jiao and his followers agreed to start an army against the Han Dynasty on March 5 (later earlier to February), with the slogan of "the sky is dead, the yellow sky is standing, the age is in the armor, the world is auspicious", and the history is called the Yellow Turban Uprising. In just one month, the Yellow Turban Army attacked in 28 counties in seven prefectures across the country, and at one point it was like a bamboo: everywhere they went, the counties of Junzhou were lost, the officials fled in the wind, and for a time the world was shaken, and Kyoto was uneasy.
The Han Ling Emperor originally thought that the Yellow Turban Army was just a group of rabble-rousers, and there was no need to worry about it, but he did not expect that the Yellow Turban Army could be as powerful as a bamboo. Therefore, in the midst of panic, four sacred decrees were issued: first, to appoint his brother-in-law He Jin as a great general and lead the Yulin army to guard Kyoto; second, to order the establishment of a garrison at Hangu Pass and other Kyoto passes; third, to send Emperor Fusong and others to lead elite troops to attack the Yellow Turban Army; and fourth, to recruit the world's Haojie to participate in the military campaign against the Yellow Turban Army, promising to reward meritorious deeds. Liu Bei seized this opportunity and led his men and horses to join the ranks of the Yellow Turban Army and began his military career.
Although Liu Bei was after Liu Sheng, the King of Zhongshan Jing, by his generation, his family had already fallen into the middle of the road, and basically except for his surname, everything else had nothing to do with the Eastern Han Dynasty. To make matters worse, Liu Bei's father died early, and Liu Bei's mother and son, who had lost their source of livelihood, had to work as mat weavers in order to survive.
Mother Liu used the money earned by the mat weaver to let Liu Bei worship the former Jiujiang Taishou and Lu Zhi, a native of the same county, as a teacher. But Liu Bei has no intention of learning, but likes to make friends with Haojie, walking horses and dogs with a group of people all day, and traveling with companions. After seeing the recruitment notice of the imperial court, although Liu Bei had the intention of participating in the campaign against the Yellow Turban Army and making meritorious achievements, although he had no shortage of followers around him, he could not raise the funds needed to form an armed force. While hesitating, Zhang Shiping and Su Ping, zhongshan merchants who sold horses in Zhuo County, came to send heavy money, solving Liu Bei's urgent need.
So the question is, why did Zhang Shiping and Su Ping fund Liu Bei? Is it really because Liu Bei's personal charm is unstoppable?
The so-called one leaf knows autumn. In fact, from the fact that Zhang Shiping and Su Ping funded Liu Bei, we can get a glimpse of the real national conditions of the Eastern Han Dynasty at that time.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="34" > businessmen get involved in politics: become traders of the left and right political situations</h1>
Ancient Chinese feudal society practiced a system of private ownership of land. People live as a family unit, living a life of self-sufficiency between men and women, which is the small peasant economy.
The small peasant economy was the basic economic policy of the feudal dynasty. Because the small peasant economy is the guarantee of the fullness of the treasury granary, and grain is the most important material of the feudal dynasty and the needle of social stability. Therefore, in order to ensure that the peasants did not leave the land and run to do business, thus causing the soldiers to be abandoned, the feudal dynasty implemented the policy of heavy agriculture and suppressing commerce for a long time. As a result, the merchants in feudal society had money but their social status was very low.
However, there is a way that money can make ghosts grind. In order to improve their social status, the top merchants who held resources (money) in their hands not only became large landlords (powerful) through land annexation, but also tried to enter the power center of the feudal dynasty, and even became people who could influence the emperor's decision-making. For example, Lü Buwei, a great merchant in the Warring States period, seized the opportunity to invest in (support) the infidels who were in the trough period, and used money to open the way for the yiren to eventually become the monarch of the Qin State, thus achieving the purpose of power over the world, and also setting a benchmark for the merchants to enter politics.
Inspired by Lü Buwei, the sense of participation in politics of later generations of businessmen was greatly strengthened, and the methods they adopted were also the same as those of Lü Buwei: as long as they saw the target, they would throw money at all costs, even if they lost their entire wealth.
The Eastern Han Dynasty regime was established with the support of big merchants and landlords. Although Liu Xiu was the ninth grandson of Liu Bang, due to the existence of the "Tui En Ling", in his father Liu Qin's generation, he was only a small official like the County Order of Jiyang County. When Liu Xiu was 9 years old, Liu Qin died of illness, and Liu Xiu's brothers and sisters had to follow their uncle Liu Liang to make a living from farming. Finally, with the full support of great merchants and landlords, Liu Xiu's army sprung up and established the Eastern Han Dynasty.
And Liu Bei's origin is similar to Liu Xiu's, and he is also a descendant of the declining clan. Therefore, in the eyes of knowledgeable businessmen, Liu Bei is also a suitable candidate for "strange goods to live in" and is an object worth investing in. Therefore, it is not surprising that Zhang Shiping and Su Pingken donated funds to Liu Bei, who was still unknown at that time: they were consciously investing, rather than targeted charity.
In fact, from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, it was the top merchants who influenced the direction of the situation. Liu Bei was able to join the military campaign against the Yellow Turban Army with the financial support of Zhang Shiping and Su Ping, and later with the strong support (marriage) of the Xuzhou tuhao elk family, so that he had the opportunity to rise from the crowd; cao Cao was originally qualified to participate in the joint army of Dong under the patronage of Chen Liufu merchant Wei Zhen; similarly, Sun Quan's father and son also relied on the support of Jiangdong chaebols (scholars) to finally gain a foothold in Jiangdong.
To sum up, under the influence of Lü Buwei, the merchants' awareness of participating in politics was greatly enhanced. They first played a decisive role in the process of Liu Xiu's founding of the country, and then fully intervened in politics at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, becoming manipulators of the political situation at that time.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="35" > rotten ship also has three pounds of nails: the Eastern Han regime is corrupt and immortal</h1>
The Yellow Turban Uprising, which lasted more than fifteen years in its inception, was a well-planned and long-term peasant uprising. Although in the end, due to the traitor's whistle-blowing, it had to be attacked a month earlier than originally planned, but due to the full preparations before, the Yellow Turban Army was still able to launch an attack in seven prefectures and twenty-eight counties in the country within a month's time, which caught the Eastern Han court by surprise.
Emperor Han Ling did not expect that the Yellow Turban Army was so powerful, and he was at a loss for a moment. However, after a short period of panic, he reacted quickly, first mobilizing heavy troops to guard the various passes leading to Kyoto, and then urgently recruiting civilian righteous soldiers, and ordering the Northern Taishou Emperor Fu song, the Northern Zhonglang general Lu Zhi, and the right lieutenant general Zhu Juan to dispatch the national elite troops, and the troops were divided into three ways to suppress the Yellow Turban Army.
Under the attack of the Eastern Han Officials led by Huang Fusong and the civilian armed forces represented by Liu Bei, the Yellow Turban Army exposed the lack of strategic ability at the decision-making level and the fatal weakness of the lack of military talent. What is worse is that at the critical moment when the two sides were fighting fiercely, Zhang Jiao, the spiritual leader of the Yellow Turban Army, unfortunately fell ill and died, which severely hit the morale of the Yellow Turban Army. In the end, after less than nine months, the main force of the Yellow Turban Army was defeated by the Eastern Han officials and troops using various methods of breaking.
In summary, during the period of the Han Ling Emperor, although the Eastern Han Dynasty had a serious phenomenon of land annexation, the people did not have a problem of livelihood. However, at this time, the Eastern Han Dynasty was corrupt and immortal, and still had a strong cohesive force, which was one of the reasons why the rich merchants (landlords) represented by Zhang Shiping were unwilling to fall to the Yellow Turban Army, but supported the armed forces that resisted the Yellow Turban Army.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="36" > conclusion</h1>
The Eastern Han Dynasty was based on the powerful combination of warlords and merchants (landlords). Therefore, the rulers of the Eastern Han Dynasty were particularly tolerant of the merchant and landlord classes, which provided an excellent opportunity for merchants to participate in politics. In order to replicate Lü Buwei's success, Zhang Shiping and Su Ping heavily funded Liu Bei, who was not yet revealed at that time, but had royal blood.
In addition, wherever the Yellow Turban Army went, it burned the government office, drove out the local tycoons, and robbed the rich merchants, which directly moved the cheese of the local tyrants and merchants, thus becoming a thorn in the eyes of these vested interests. As rich merchants, Zhang Shiping and Su Pingren were also the targets of robbery by the Yellow Turban Army, so in order to protect themselves, they funded the armed forces of the civilian anti-Yellow Turban Army, and Liu Bei was one of the armed forces of the civilian anti-Yellow Turban Army.
Moreover, the Eastern Han Dynasty during the Han Ling Emperor's period, although politically corrupt, was still far from falling apart, and the Ling Emperor raised his arms and shouted, and the world still gathered. In this case, it is naturally impossible for smart businessmen such as Zhang Shiping and Su Ping to support the Yellow Turban Army, who has no chance of winning, and supporting Liu Bei's potential stocks, so that he is the Yellow Turban Army, will become the best choice for Zhang Shiping and Su Ping.
Therefore, Zhang Shiping and Su Ping funded Liu Bei free of charge, not because Liu Bei's personal charm was unstoppable, but a true reflection of the national conditions at that time.