Chapter 127 One Death Only

The thirty-six commanders of the Taiping Dao agreed to launch the uprising in March.

Even with the intention of directly attacking Luoyang.

Those abandoned and ignored people were accumulating flames in their hearts, and when the time came, the world would rebel together.

Accumulating all their strength to overthrow the high and mighty emperors, generals, and ministers in one fell swoop.

But no one could have guessed that Tang Zhou, the disciple Zhang Jiao personally saved and took in, would become a traitor. The kind and gentle Ma Yuanyi was torn apart by chariots, and the plan for a combined outbreak was shattered. Zhang Jiao remained silent for a long time, and when he came out, Wei Yuan noticed that the wrinkles between his eyebrows seemed to be deeper.

This time Zhang Jiao no longer hesitated.

He raised his banner: "The Azure Sky is dead, the Yellow Sky shall rise. The year is Jiazi, great fortune to the world!"

A call to arms brought tens of thousands of followers. This was already the ultimate description of ancient prestige. In ancient times, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang dared to crown themselves kings with only tens of thousands of soldiers. And this time, when the Daoist raised his hand, winds and clouds stirred in every state of the realm. A call to arms brought a million followers.

The vast and unshakable cities of the Han Empire were destroyed with ease.

Fierce flames burned the Azure Sky.

Yellow Turban soldiers appeared everywhere, but gradually, A Yuan noticed that among these people, there were those who were not true righteous soldiers. They were just opportunists, even mountain bandits, who took the opportunity to plunder. He found that Zhang Jiao's aura was becoming more and more powerful, like a flame that was bright to the extreme.

Like a blazing fire that illuminated this dark era, intense and brilliant.

He knew that the hope and the flame in everyone's eyes was this Daoist.

But he began to feel uneasy in his heart.

The burning of flames requires fuel.

Liu Niu's hands were stained with blood, and many of his comrades had died on the road. This man with a few strands of white hair at his temples was silent for a long time, then said in a relaxed tone, "At least they didn't starve to death without dignity. That's already good enough."

He rubbed A Yuan's hair. The young man noticed that Liu Niu had several yellow turbans tied to his arm, which should have been tied on the foreheads of others. As he walked, the yellow turbans swayed with him, like flickering flames. Gradually, they conquered more and more cities, and the number of yellow turbans on Liu Niu's arm also increased.

When those high-ranking aristocratic families discovered that the lowly commoners were actually shaking their foundations, they finally panicked and began to suppress them. They issued edicts to various places to be on guard, and ordered the states and counties to prepare for battle. But at first, the armies in various places were no match for the Yellow Turbans, until His Majesty, the Son of Heaven, mobilized the famous generals of the Han Dynasty.

Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun…

Until this monster that had occupied the realm for so long began to mobilize those elites who ate meat and rice.

They wore armor, and their expressions were solemn and stern.

To meet those emaciated farmers with protruding bones.

Among them, Lu Zhi, who had a very high reputation in the imperial court, led the elite of the Han Dynasty and personally attacked the core of the entire Taiping Dao. This was a fair and square military strategy: capture the leader to defeat the army. They believed that as long as they defeated the head bandit, the so-called Taiping Dao was not worth mentioning.

The coughing young man watched his senior brothers leave one by one. For some reason, he was somewhat precocious.

He knew that these famous generals were wrong in their assumptions.

Capturing the leader to defeat the army was not suitable for the Yellow Turbans…

Because they didn't stand up because they were bewitched by anyone.

In April of this year, Sun Jian, a military figure of the Han Dynasty, led his troops to join Zhu Jun.

Immediately, they were defeated head-on by the Yellow Turban army, Bo Cai.

Sun Jian and Zhu Jun had to retreat repeatedly. Huangfu Song, a famous general of the Han Dynasty, joined forces with the two and controlled the Five Schools, the Three Rivers cavalry, and newly recruited elite soldiers and warriors, totaling more than 40,000 people, stationed in Changshe, barely resisting Bo Cai's attack, but they were directly besieged.

These aristocratic children, who had practiced martial arts since childhood and fought in armor, were confused for the first time. On the battlefield, whether one wore armor or not, and whether one was strong or not, was very important. This far outweighed the advantage in numbers.

An elite warrior in armor could easily kill five or ten unarmored soldiers head-on.

One of the reasons why one Han soldier could match five Hu soldiers was armor and weapons.

What's more, these were just skin-and-bone farmers.

But they were indeed defeated.

Elite warriors were defeated by farmers who could only eat tree bark.

Sun Jian stood on the city wall. He still remembered those people. They looked like weeds, and didn't even need to be cut down by swords. They might fall down at any time and never get up again, but they attacked like madmen. Their eyes seemed to be burning with flames—

Immediately, the Yellow Turban army in Runan defeated the Grand Administrator Zhao Qian in Shaoling.

The Yellow Turban army in Guangyang beheaded the Governor of Youzhou, Guo Xun, and the Grand Administrator, Liu Wei.

Good news was frequently reported, but because the enemy was focused on capturing the leader to defeat the army, Zhang Jiao's troops, who had to face the elite of the Han Dynasty with only a part of Ji Province, fell into bitter fighting. At first, they could still contend with them, but soon, Yuan discovered that Zhang Jiao, who had always seemed to have inexhaustible energy since he could remember, suddenly fell ill.

His aura became more and more powerful, like a great sun.

His vitality became more and more withered, like a withered river under the great sun.

His energy waned day by day.

Only the two Martial Uncles, Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao, were left, completely unable to contend with Lu Zhi.

Zhang Jiao's troops retreated repeatedly.

They retreated all the way to the place called Guangzong.

And on this day, the enemy commander, Lu Zhi, who was said to be both civil and military, and had served as a minister and a famous general, actually led two young men into Guangzong City. He seemed to think that with their strength, they could escape at any time. They found Zhang Jiao's house to visit the Daoist.

A Yuan was the only disciple still by Zhang Jiao's side. He looked at Lu Zhi warily.

He was about to refuse when he heard a calm voice, "A Yuan, step back."

A Yuan turned his head and saw Zhang Jiao, who had been lying in bed for several days, unable to get up, actually standing there calmly in his Daoist robe. The young man slowly stepped back, and Zhang Jiao said calmly, "I didn't expect Minister Lu to come in person."

Lu Zhi gazed at the young Daoist in front of him and sighed:

"What a pity for your cultivation."

"Zhang Jiao, give up. Why lead these people to their deaths… I will report to His Majesty. Although you will surely die, these people may not be able to win leniency. Now His Majesty is wise and powerful. As long as the external turmoil is quelled, things will get better."

The young Daoist smiled and replied, with shallow dimples on his cheeks:

"That's what I thought too, once."

"But I later understood…"

The Daoist said softly:

"Patience will never lead to good results. It's impossible."

"Patience will only lead to greater and greater oppression. Originally, we just wanted to have enough to eat, but later, the land was annexed. Later, we couldn't even eat enough, and could only eat tree bark. Later, there were plagues and droughts, but because His Majesty wanted to build gardens, the taxes were not reduced at all. Instead, they were increased layer by layer."

"Faced with this, we can only rise up in revolt."

Lu Zhi fell silent and sighed, “…But this will lead to more people dying in vain.”

"They could have lived…"

The good-tempered young Daoist replied:

"It is precisely because we want to live that we stand up."

The conversation naturally ended unhappily. Finally, Lu Zhi said, "You know that this time you will undoubtedly lose. Dayu forged the Nine Cauldrons, and the Qin Emperor cast the Jade Seal, gathering the fortune of the Nine Provinces into one. That is why there was the Guangwu Restoration. Destiny is on our side. Now the dragon vein is stable, and my great Han still has hundreds of years of fortune."

"You will not succeed."

"Moreover, we are burdened with fortune. What do you rely on? Just your own Daoist cultivation? Even if your Daoist cultivation penetrates the heavens and the earth, how long can it last?"

Zhang Jiao remained silent, and asked the young man to see the three guests out. After watching his disciple leave, the Daoist, who had still been dignified and had the aura to call to arms and sweep across the realm, suddenly turned pale, his vision went black, and he slowly sat down, supporting himself against the wall. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, staining his Daoist robe red.

Little by little, he struggled to walk into the house, not letting anyone see him.

……………………

Lu Zhi was led out of the city by the young man. He saw one emaciated person after another, greeting him kindly. If it weren't for the fact that he was in a rebel city, he would have almost thought this was a small town that had suffered a disaster. He didn't know what to say. The Yellow Turbans were actually just the people of the Han Dynasty who couldn't survive.

This was a truth he couldn't face directly.

Lu Zhi sighed and said:

"Little one, why are you following Zhang Jiao… Aren't you afraid of dying on the battlefield?"

Yuan replied, "I'm afraid, but Uncle Liu Niu said that dying in battle is not scary. It's over in an instant, and it's much better than starving to death. My mother also said that she must never starve to death in this life."

Lu Zhi was silent: "Starve to death?"

He couldn't speak, and changed the subject, "Where is your mother?"

The young man replied, "My mother is dead… She starved to death."

Lu Zhi looked around and saw those people, noticing their wary and strange gazes. His heart felt blocked. He wanted to save the people of the realm, but he discovered that the enemies he was slaughtering were also the citizens of the Han Dynasty. This made him feel very uncomfortable. A young man with a tough and stern temperament next to him asked:

"Why didn't you stay by your mother's grave for three years of mourning, but instead came to do such treasonous things? Aren't you afraid of bringing shame to your mother?"

Yuan asked curiously, "What is a grave?"

The young man was stunned. A slightly younger young man next to Lu Zhi, with long arms and an air of chivalry, said:

"After your mother passed away, where was she buried…"

The boy, who was only twelve or thirteen years old, replied, "After my mother died, she only had a straw mat covering her, and only the clothes on her body, and then she was buried in a hole in the ground. In fact, some people died and didn't even bear to bury their clothes. The clothes can still be worn. You are so strange. Don't you even know this?"

The tough young man couldn't say anything, so he frowned and said angrily:

"What is your tone?"

"Do you know who you are talking to? My teacher is a contemporary minister, who presided over the compilation of the Luoyang Stone Stele, the cultural lifeline of the realm!"

The always-kind Lu Zhi's face was somewhat pale. He stopped the young man, bent slightly, and looked at the young man with a forced smile:

"Little one, do you also know about the stone carvings? Actually, it's not as good as Bo Gui said…"

Yuan raised his head and said, "I know. The year the stele was completed, there was a great drought and a plague."

"I remember that many, many people died. They starved to death. I think that the stele was carved for eight years, with so many, many words. Could the money spent on each word have saved a hundred people, a thousand people? Because it's actually very simple for people to want to live. With tree bark, a little bit of grain, a little bit of water, they can survive."

The young man, dressed in linen clothes, looked at the famous Confucian scholar and said softly:

"Old sir, are those words and principles more important than human lives?"

Lu Zhi's face was ashen.

A Confucian heart of righteousness almost collapsed in an instant.

He left in a daze. The long-armed young man couldn't speak. He saw that the boy's shoes were not very suitable, sighed, reached out and put the boy under his arm, placed him on a stone, and then found some grass. His fingers quickly and skillfully wove something, while asking the boy what the people wanted.

The boy thought for a while and replied, "To have enough to eat, a place to live, and clothes to wear."

"Not to be conscripted into the army and die outside for no reason."

"Not to starve to death."

He paused and added, "It would be best to have meat to eat."

The young man with the air of a wandering hero couldn't help but laugh. He spent a while and had already woven a pair of very beautiful straw sandals, put them on the boy, patted the dirt off his clothes, stood up, and smiled, "Let's go, little one. Tell me, what other ideas do you have?"

The young man thought for a while, looked at the smiling young hero, and said cautiously:

"We want to be treated like people."

"Not to be easily abandoned. We are also people."

He paused, and the young man murmured, "Or are we not worthy?"

The young man opened his mouth, and the always-bold and heroic wandering knight was lost in thought for a long time.

He carried two swords on his back, slowly nodded, and bowed:

"Thank you… for your guidance."

Yuan was stunned, and then subconsciously returned a Daoist greeting. The wandering knight turned and left, chasing after his teacher and senior brother to the outside world. They had cultivation, so they could do such things.

Lu Zhi was dazed for the first time. He had actually built barriers, dug trenches, and made siege ladders, and could launch a strong attack at any time, but he ordered the Han army to besiege the city without attacking.

The people in the city were also citizens of the Han Dynasty… citizens of the Han Dynasty who couldn't survive.

As long as Zhang Jiao was killed by the backlash, there might be a way to persuade them to surrender.

The elderly Confucian scholar asked his disciples what their aspirations were. The tough man replied sternly, "The matter now lies in the fact that the great Han is conquering foreign races, spending too much resources. If Zan were a general, he would ensure that the foreign tribes at the border would not dare to invade. If our great Han is at peace within the realm, we can naturally stabilize the people's livelihood."

He had already made a great name for himself at the border and was only here to support his teacher.

Lu Zhi nodded and looked at the disciple next to him who was a wandering knight, didn't like to study, and only liked to wear fine clothes and ride fine horses. He said, "Xuan De, what about you?"

The young man with the air of a hero came back to his senses after a long while and replied, "Probably…"

"No matter what, I will not abandon the people under my rule, right?"

The tough young man couldn't help but laugh at his junior brother.

Lu Zhi was surprised that this disciple, who originally only liked to drink and fight when he was studying and directly subdued all the wandering knights around him, actually had such a view. He rarely nodded in agreement, but this siege without killing eventually led to doubts from the imperial court.

Emperor Ling sent the Little Yellow Gate, Zuo Feng, to investigate. Someone advised Lu Zhi to bribe Zuo Feng, so that the matter of besieging without killing would not be exposed.

But Lu Zhi's temper was like a sword, and he couldn't stand the so-called Little Yellow Gate.

So Zuo Feng reported to the Han Emperor, telling him that Guangzong could obviously be easily captured, but General Lu Zhonglang had no intention of attacking at all, probably intending to let the Azure Sky kill Zhang Jiao. So Emperor Ling was angry and issued an edict to directly dismiss Lu Zhi, and押押 him back to the imperial court.

When Lu Zhi left, he looked at the distant city, and finally smiled freely. He still refused to attack and was taken away in a prison cart. No one knew why he didn't launch a strong attack at this time, and no one knew why, when the great Confucian scholar passed away eight years later, he asked his son to bury him only in a hole in the ground.

No coffin, only a single garment.

………………

Zhang Jiao watched Lu Zhi being taken away.

He could no longer walk normally, and was more like a sick man than A Yuan.

Even the nine-section staff needed A Yuan to hold it for him.

Then, as Lu Zhi said, destiny seemed to be on the side of the Han. The news frequently turned into bad news. Those Yellow Turban generals and Yellow Turban warriors had strong enough wills, but the art of war was not something that could be ignored by being fearless.

After being besieged for a month, Huangfu Song launched a night fire attack and broke through Bo Cai's blockade.

Together with a young general named Cao Cao, among the reinforcements, they broke through the encirclement of Bo Cai's troops.

After that, many Yellow Turban generals were beheaded, and replacing Lu Zhi was Dong Zhuo, a famous general said to have made a name for himself at the border. Zhang Jiao roused his will and defeated this famous general from the border, so Huangfu Song had no choice but to continue north to face Zhang Jiao, also known as the Yellow Turban Jizhou Division.

On this day when Dong Zhuo retreated, two Daoists came to visit.

They looked at Zhang Jiao, who could no longer get out of bed, with complex expressions, and sighed, "It's our Daoist precepts. Why did you stir up such a big thing? Why did you stir up such a great change in the realm? Why did you enter the world? You were originally the most talented person of this generation…"

Zhang Jiao asked peacefully, "I practice the true Dao and do the right thing. Is there anything wrong with that?"

The two Daoists shook their heads.

Zhang Jiao asked again:

"Is there anything wrong with curing diseases and saving people?"

The two Daoists shook their heads in silence.

Zhang Jiao murmured, "They want to live… Is there anything wrong with that?"

The two true cultivators couldn't say anything. Yuan helped Zhang Jiao up. He performed a Daoist salute and said softly:

"Zuo Ci, Yu Ji, I have a request for you."

"Please prepare the magical items recorded on this thing for me."

Yu Ji and Zuo Ci took this thing. When they saw the sword used as the core, and that it must be a weapon bearing the aura of a king, or a weapon stained with royal blood, their faces changed drastically. They suddenly raised their heads to look at Zhang Jiao, all horrified: "Zhang Jiao… Do you know what you're doing?!"

Zhang Jiao replied softly, "Curing diseases and saving people."

"I trouble you two Daoist friends."

This time, Yu Ji and Zuo Ci opened their mouths and began to doubt their choice of living in seclusion. They spent several days preparing all the items for the ritual for Zhang Jiao. Then, the two true cultivators bowed and bowed for a long time, and said:

"Daoist friend…"

"Farewell."

Zhang Jiao returned the greeting and smiled: "…Farewell."

Finally, A Yuan held the nine-section staff for the Great Virtuous Teacher, while Zhang Jiao coughed violently and slowly drew talismans with his fingers. He smiled and said, "A Yuan, I once told you that talismans are the voice of the heart. I haven't shown this talisman to anyone else yet. Today, you are the only successor to my method, haha."

The young man's face was only filled with sorrow.

This was a rather complex incantation. Even these talismans formed something similar to a later-generation altar. Zhang Jiao stepped lightly on the ground and said an incantation. The surroundings suddenly lit up. The young A Yuan subconsciously closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he almost lost his ability to think.

A vast and majestic place.

There was no up and down, no left and right, no front and back, and it was even difficult to speak. He saw this world that seemed to be a manifestation of the vast universe, saw the earth and mountains connected, and saw the huge golden dragon that slowly raised its head. The majestic aura made his cultivation stagnate.

The young man suddenly understood his teacher's purpose. He suddenly raised his head and looked at the Daoist.

The teacher said that he could see the dragon vein of the Han Dynasty…

And now, the dragon vein of the Han Dynasty was still stable. The golden dragon transformed by the fortune of the Yan Han Dynasty had been nurtured for four hundred years and was already like a god. It raised its head and whispered:

"Who dares to intrude…"

Zhang Jiao slowly raised his hand and activated the talisman.

At this moment, he suddenly thought of his childhood. He went down the mountain, and his teacher suddenly stopped him, telling him that he must not enter the world, otherwise, he would definitely have a disaster. If he could avoid this calamity, then he would definitely become a peerless true cultivator, at least comparable to Zhang Daoling.

He gave the young Daoist a four-character incantation. It was his fate and his curse.

A thousand years of true cultivation.

At that time, the meadow was filled with warblers, and the young Daoist still had a bit of baby fat. When he smiled, there were two dimples on his cheeks.

"That is, teacher, you know that I have always cherished my life."

"I will just cure diseases and save people, and then abduct a few, cough cough, I mean, take in a few little Daoists to inherit the Daoist tradition. Hehe, a thousand years of true cultivation, I am very envious. What is better to follow? A thousand years of true cultivation, incense for ten thousand generations, is a bit vulgar. Then how about boundless mana? That doesn't seem good either…"

Zhang Jiao's lips twitched slightly. Thinking of that headache-inducing young man, he finally murmured the second sentence:

"A thousand years of true cultivation…"

"Is just one death."

The Daoist raised his eyes, he stepped forward, gave the fortune dragon one last salute, exhaled, and said:

"I am Zhang Jiao…"

The talisman was completed in an instant.

"I ask the great Han to die!!!"

ps: Today's update is 6,000 words~ The second update depends on the situation. If I can write it, I will post it.

《Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Volume 71·Biographies of Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun》: The emperor followed his advice. Therefore, he dispatched the elite troops of the realm and widely selected generals. He appointed Song as the Left General of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace, holding the節, and together with Zhu Jun, the Right General of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace, dispatched the Five Schools, the Three Rivers cavalry, and recruited elite warriors, totaling more than 40,000 people. Song and Jun each led an army and jointly attacked the Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan.

《Zizhi Tongjian·Volume 58·Han Ji Fifty》: Jun fought against the bandits, Bo Cai, and was defeated; Song advanced to protect Changshe. The Yellow Turbans in Runan defeated Grand Administrator Zhao Qian in Shaoling. The Yellow Turbans in Guangyang killed the Governor of Youzhou, Guo Xun, and Grand Administrator Liu Wei.

《Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Volume 64·Fifth Biographies of Wu Yan, Shi Lu, and Zhao》: Yuan Shao, the Governor of Ji Province, invited Zhi to be his military advisor. He died in the third year of Chuping. When he was dying, he ordered his son, Jian, to be buried in a hole in the ground, without a coffin, and only with a single piece of silk attached to his body.