Chapter 74: The Eighteen Feudal Lords Campaign Against the Yellow Turbans

The defenders of Luoyang City had already lost all will to fight.

Now, seeing the other side receive the blessings of the Heavenly Court and the enlightenment of immortals,

what thoughts of resistance could they possibly have left?

It was clear that the other side had obtained the Mandate of Heaven.

The Mandate of Heaven no longer resided with the Flaming Han!

Consequently, Zhang Jiao led the Yellow Turban Army and easily breached Luoyang City.

Luoyang City, the Divine Capital that symbolized the political center of the Han Empire, was finally conquered.

Zhang Jiao led the Yellow Turban Army to take control of Luoyang City, and he entered the imperial palace with his followers.

Inside the palace, the Han Son of Heaven, Liu Hong, had already committed suicide by slitting his own throat.

This last monarch of the Han maintained the final shred of dignity for the Han with his death.

"Very well."

Zhang Jiao instructed his men, "Bury Liu Hong with the honors befitting an Emperor."

Zhang Jiao still granted this last emperor of the Han his final respect, burying him with the honors of an Emperor.

Of course, wanting imperial-grade burial goods and the like was impossible.

Zhang Jiao's burial of Liu Hong was merely an acknowledgment of this Han emperor.

From the bottom of his heart, this Han emperor had not performed his duties well.

The Han had reached this point because its deep-seated ills were too difficult to reverse.

But Liu Hong had also done many things wrong.

Zhang Jiao felt somewhat amused; having come this far,

he did not know how many of his old rivals he had already buried.

Starting from Huangfu Song and ending with Liu Hong.

Fortunately, he had finally succeeded.

The common people of this world had united and finally overthrown the Han Empire.

A new nation was about to be established in their hands.

Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang spoke up excitedly at this moment, "Big Brother, we succeeded; we finally succeeded."

"Yes, we finally succeeded."

Reaching this step, Zhang Jiao was filled with deep emotion.

From initially wanting to find a path for the common people of this world but having no way to start,

to gradually understanding the ultimate goal, then advancing among the farmers, using a single spark to start a prairie fire.

Finally, he had overthrown this Han Empire.

Zhang Jiao knew deeply that every step had not been easy; if not for the Heavenly Court,

even if he had made full preparations, he still would not have anticipated the mastermind behind it all, the Three Immortals of the Han, including Nanhua Laoxian.

But fortunately, the process was tortuous, yet the road was bright.

Even now, Zhang Jiao knew he still had to maintain a heart of awe and piety at all times.

Throughout history, why had so many peasant uprisings failed?

From the Daze Village Uprising, the Huang Chao Uprising, and the Fang La Uprising, to the final Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Boxer Rebellion, and so on.

Why could peasant uprisings sweep across the world and stir up such great momentum at the beginning?

But after the middle and later stages, they lacked staying power and were almost all slowly pacified, heading toward failure.

The biggest reason for this was the inherent limitations of the peasant class itself.

Their vision and perspective were insufficient; they were content with small gains and would fall into internal strife once they achieved a certain level of success.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement was the most prominent example; no matter what the slogans were at the start of the uprising,

once they achieved a certain level of success, these dragon-slayers eventually became evil dragons, becoming a new exploiting class.

These were all problems Zhang Jiao needed to be vigilant about at all times.

Governing the world is harder than conquering it.

Of course, especially for Zhang Jiao now, he had only breached the Han Imperial Capital and destroyed the Han.

The world had not yet fully come under the rule of the Taiping Sect.

The Han had perished, but separatist forces still existed in various regions.

However, for the current Yellow Turban Army, these were not problems.

What lay before Zhang Jiao now was how to plan the establishment of a brand-new nation.

And just as Zhang Jiao breached Luoyang City and occupied the Han imperial palace,

the final National Fortune of the Han let out a mournful cry.

This was the final lingering echo of the Han Empire.

At this moment, the string in the hearts of everyone across the Thirteen Provinces of the Han snapped.

"The Han has fallen!"

"The four-hundred-year Han has fallen!"

Just a moment ago, it was merely the dissipation of the Han's four-hundred-year National Fortune, but now, the Han had truly perished.

Countless former subjects of the Han were weeping bitterly.

Four hundred years, four hundred years!

That was the four-hundred-year Han; it had made its dynastic name the name of an ethnic group.

Even if it was now like a terminally ill old man, gasping its last breath.

Even if it is now very harsh toward its subjects.

But that is the Great Han, is it not?

That is the Great Han of all of them.

And now, the Great Han has perished.

For those ambitious people, they know their opportunity has arrived.

No one expected that a group of peasants would actually destroy the Great Han.

However, it does not matter; the Yellow Turban Army led by Zhang Jiao is merely making wedding clothes for them.

This world will eventually return to the hands of people like them.

In the ninth month of the sixth year of Zhongping, Zhang Jiao severed the four-hundred-year National Fortune of the Great Han, and the followers of the Taiping Sect stormed into Luoyang City.

The Great Han Son of Heaven Liu Hong committed suicide, dying for his country, and the Great Han perished.

At that time, nearly thirty thousand subjects across the Thirteen Provinces of the Han perished with the country, resting in peace with the nation.

In the sixth year of Zhongping, Yuan Shao, who had originally intended to ambitiously establish his merits, also received news of the fall of the Great Han.

At the beginning, Yuan Shao had only intended to carve out a territory for himself and did not yet have such grand goals.

But now, the Great Han has perished.

Four Generations and Three Excellencies, a descendant of a prestigious family.

If the Liu family could obtain this world, why could they, the Yuan Family, not obtain it?

At this moment, Yuan Shao erupted with even stronger ambition, wanting to establish a world belonging to the Yuan Family.

In the tenth month of the sixth year of Zhongping.

Relying on his noble birth as a descendant of the Four Generations and Three Excellencies, Yuan Shao called upon the people of the world to join him in punishing Zhang Jiao, that thief who usurped the state.

"Having received imperial grace for generations, we must think of repaying the country. Everyone, the Demon Daoist Zhang Jiao has thrown the Great Han empire into chaos; we must all punish him together."

Cao Cao, who was wholeheartedly devoted to serving the Great Han, could not help but burst into tears upon hearing that the Great Han had perished.

"How could the Great Han have perished? How could my Great Han have perished?"

Zhang Jiao led the Yellow Turban Army with such speed that they breached Luoyang City in just a few days.

The armies of the world coming to the rescue of the king were only just on their way when the Great Han already perished.

Cao Cao's heart, filled with the desire to serve his country, now had nowhere to rest.

Cao Cao quickly composed himself, and he shouted angrily, "As long as I, Cao Mengde, am here, this Great Han has not perished. To restore the Han house and rebuild the Great Han—I, Cao Cao, will certainly rebuild the Great Han."

Cao Cao had already decided in his heart to first quell the Yellow Turban rebellion.

Then, he would support a member of the Liu family's imperial bloodline to rebuild the Great Han.

Cao Cao immediately responded to Yuan Shao's call to arms to march together and punish the rebels.

Meanwhile, in other regions, the Peach Garden Three Brothers, the Jiangdong Tiger Sun Jian, and other various feudal lords all rushed toward Suanzao.

A total of Eighteen Route Feudal Lords gathered at Suanzao.

"All who are in my alliance shall advance and retreat together, sharing life and death. Today's endeavor is either victory or defeat, life or death; we shall share in the honor and the disgrace."

The Eighteen Route Feudal Lords gathered at Suanzao, proclaimed their intent to Heaven and Earth, smeared blood to form an alliance, and honored Yuan Shao as the alliance leader to jointly punish Zhang Jiao.

In an instant, the world was once again stirred by wind and clouds.

(End of chapter)