A general will die in a hundred battles, and a strong man will return after ten years.
This sentence at this time is profoundly reflecting the current situation of the entire regular army and county soldiers of the Han Dynasty.
Beginning in February of the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Guanghe, beacon fires broke out in all the counties and counties of the Han Dynasty, and people who could no longer survive rose up in rebellion.
They joined the Yellow Turban Army, burned down government offices, killed officials, and looted everywhere. Within a month, fighting broke out in seven states and 28 counties across the country.
All officials and gentry who were unwilling to lose their status and wealth gathered together.
Join forces with other powerful locals who have not yet been affected by the war, and together they make suggestions to the court to organize troops and put down the Yellow Turban Rebellion, which has harmed the entire Han Dynasty.
Because of the Yellow Turban Army's plundering regardless of class or situation, villagers filled with fear and indignation formed rebel armies in various places.
To deal with these rebels, all local nobles contributed money, food, troops and weapons. He sent out the outstanding talents of his clan, organized them, and after a little training, took them with him to the front line of the battlefield to resist the Yellow Turban Army.
Suddenly, this dynasty, which had been passed down for hundreds of years, organized hundreds of thousands of troops in an instant, and quickly quelled the Yellow Turban Army, which had corrupted the entire northern Han Dynasty and was spreading in all directions.
The Yellow Turban Army, which had hundreds of thousands of troops and millions of civilians, was put down in just nine months.
A bloody example is used to tell future generations that since ancient times, peasant army uprisings have ended without a clear goal and command.
After more than half a year of counterinsurgency war, of the hundreds of thousands of rebels and government troops, there are now only about 200,000 people left, and most of them are exhausted, particularly disgusted with war, and long for a stable life. Life.
However, this wish did not satisfy them. After the imperial court had just put down the Yellow Turbans, it discovered that there was a rebellion by the Xiliang Qiang people in their Guanzhong area.
The emperor's own ancestral tomb and rear area were threatened by the enemy, and this rebellion must be put down to ensure the normal operation of the entire dynasty.
So as the emperor's imperial decree was passed down, the 200,000-strong army that had just suppressed the rebels in the Central Plains had not had time to take a good rest.
In addition to leaving tens of thousands of people to stay in necessary counties and counties, the remaining 150,000 to 60,000 people were all transferred to Guanzhong to quell the rebellion that was raging throughout the northwest of the Han Dynasty.
At this order, all the soldiers at the bottom complained. Only those high-ranking generals who are eager to make achievements and win more meritorious service are rejoicing and eagerly looking forward to the arrival of this war.
If a soldier has no fighting spirit, he will have the will to fight. This sentence is a very profound understanding of the reality of the entire Han Dynasty army. The upper and lower minds are not aligned and have different opinions.
The soldiers resented their superiors for not treating them as human beings and ordered them around at will; the generals complained that the soldiers disobeyed orders and refused to fight.
The two naturally contradictory classes are now in the midst of an explosion. All that was missing was a fuse to ignite the soldiers' disappointment and indignation towards the court.
Sure enough, when this group of soldiers was transferred to the Guanzhong battlefield, a large number of soldiers were passive and idle in fighting. The Xiliang rebels collapsed immediately after a brief encounter.
The situation on the entire Guanzhong battlefield was completely corrupted, and the influence of the rebellion was growing. More and more people either took the initiative to join the rebels or were coerced, and the imperial army was at a disadvantage on the entire battlefield.
The generals who kept losing battles blamed all their anger on the soldiers, and constantly beat and scolded those soldiers, reprimanding them every day.
Contradictions and anger slowly accumulated, and finally one night, all the soldiers who had reached the limit of their patience united together.
They agreed with each other that when the torch was raised, they would kill together towards the general's camp, rebel together, and attack the capital together with the rebellious Xiliang army, destroy this decadent and shabby dynasty, and then return to their hometowns and wait. The end of the war.
Finally, as a torch was lit, countless torches rose up like fire dragons.
"kill!"
Following a few prestigious people among the leaders, an order was given. All the soldiers, filled with anger and desire to go home, rushed like dark clouds towards the center of the entire camp, where the commander of this army lived.
In 185 AD, in February of the first year of Zhongping, Emperor Ling, the soldiers who had been tired of war for a long time and were looking forward to returning to their hometown finally rebelled under the pressure of their commanders.
Of the remaining 120,000 counter-rebellion troops, 20,000 participated, dealing a heavy blow to the unprepared officers and soldiers. Dozens of generals were killed during the turmoil, and the army suffered casualties of 50,000 to 60,000. The remaining About 10,000 rebels fled towards Xiliang, brought the news to the Xiliang army, and joined them.
The Xiliang army was overjoyed when they received the news of the civil strife between the government and army. They immediately summoned 30,000 cavalry and raided the already panic-stricken government camp.
The officers and soldiers who were caught off guard once again suffered heavy losses. After a civil strife, only about 20,000 of the 40,000 to 50,000 troops remaining fled toward the Great Wall, defended the city, and quickly asked the court for help.
The entire west of Guanzhong, except for a few counties around Chang'an City, which were still in the hands of the imperial court, were all occupied by the Xiliang rebels. For a time, the Xiliang army's chances of winning greatly increased. The people who had suffered from the imperial government's harsh rule for a long time responded that it was Xiliang. Liangjun's uprising.
Three days later, we received news that the counter-rebellion army had been defeated and that only 20,000 people out of more than 100,000 people were trapped at the Great Wall.
Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, who was enjoying a life of wine and meat in the palace of Luoyang City, was furious and frightened. He urgently ordered the officials in the court to come up with countermeasures to curb the Xiliang army's increasingly rampant offensive and prevent it from spreading to Luoyang, Guandong.
After an emergency meeting, the princes of the court decided to prevent the Xiliang army from coming to their base camp. One after another, they sent out money and food, troops and men, and once again assembled an army of about 100,000 people and transported it to Chang'an.
Let the Guanzhong gentry who have been suppressed by them for hundreds of years gain power again. How will those Guanzhong gentry who have been oppressed by the Guandong clan for a long time treat their old enemies who have been feuding for hundreds of years? That's really hard to say.
Therefore, all the noble clans worked hard to support the territory in suppressing the rebellion this time, even more than they did in suppressing the Yellow Turban rebellion.
Those yellow scarf thieves can only cause trouble to some small noble families with little background, but they still pose no threat to the big family that has been passed down for hundreds of years.
Each of these top aristocratic families can produce thousands of their own well-equipped soldiers and armors. Moreover, he has a good reputation in the local area. If he ascends to the throne at any time, tens of thousands of people will flock to Jingji.
This is a huge force. One, two, five or six families is nothing, but in the entire Han Dynasty, this kind of force is combined by dozens of his families, plus a few smaller aristocratic families, and it can be said to be an extremely powerful force. Terrible power.
Moreover, these aristocratic families colluded with each other and entered into marriage relationships. It can be said that every aristocratic family has a few traces of blood to him, and using one's own blood as a bond is enough for them to unite and protect each other.
At that time, anyone who dares to infringe on the interests of their class will be united by them to attack and overthrow them.
Just like Wang Mang two hundred years ago, he implemented the New Deal and demanded that the benefits of the gentry be transferred to the poor people. But he was immediately obstructed by the nobles, who distorted his decree in every possible way.
In the end, they found that Wang Mang's will could not be stopped, so they simply rebelled, overthrew him and established a dynasty that safeguarded the interests of their class and was in line with the wishes of the gentry.
So the Han Dynasty, which had already perished, was renewed again, and the so-called Eastern Han Dynasty appeared, but in fact it was just a puppet of the gentry.
The Guanzhong gentry that I am currently participating in the rebellion were the victims of Wang Mang's change of dynasty. Because he was on the wrong team and chose Wang Mang, he was suppressed by Liu Xiu and the entire Guandong family.
Guanzhong, which was originally extremely wealthy in the Western Han Dynasty, gradually turned into Xiliang, which is now sparsely populated and barren. Now how dare those Guandong families dare to let those Xiliang troops enter? Aren't you afraid of becoming the second Guanzhong gentry
When it comes to the means of dealing with the nobles, the Xiliang Army, who are also nobles, are more skillful and clever than the Yellow Turban Army who were born from farmers.
(End of chapter)