Chapter 215: The Realm Rejoices

Cao Mengde was hauled up not because the Way of Great Peace was plotting rebellion, but because the bastard had actually been sleeping sprawled on his face!

Anyone with experience probably knows that a hungover person who sleeps sprawled on a bed can easily drown in their own vomit, and clearly, Lady Ding was just such a person of considerable experience.

These past years, Cao Mengde never stopped studying and training in martial arts, but he never let up on wine and women either — truly living life to the fullest.

But full as it was, a mere Court Consultant rank, as common as dirt on the streets of Luoyang, was ultimately not enough for him to learn of "major events" in the court the moment they happened.

Indeed, Tang Zhou's denunciation made everyone realize this was a "major event"! But only to the degree of a major event, nothing more.

Someone was plotting rebellion, and had colluded with two Regular Palace Attendants — these eunuchs were truly detestable!

Then upon further inquiry, it turned out there was even a rebel ringleader named Ma Yuanyi, leading a hundred thousand able-bodied refugees from Jingzhou and Yangzhou across the Yellow River, then turning west from Yecheng toward Henei Commandery, preparing to seize Meng Crossing... Clearly, this rebel actually intended to bypass the Sishui Pass, Xuanmen Pass, and other checkpoints east of Luoyang this way, then coordinate with those two powerful eunuchs from within and without to strike directly at Luoyang! This demanded even more serious attention!

Finally, upon still further inquiry, it emerged that this Tang Zhou, this Ma Yuanyi, were merely a few among Zhang Jiao's many disciples, and that Zhang Jiao, after years of painstaking preparation, had established thirty-six divisions, large and small, spread across the entire realm!

The sequence of events was temporarily clear, and the elites at the empire's center immediately worked through the night to lay out a response plan.

First, Luoyang's security was paramount. Ma Yuanyi in Henei and those hundred thousand refugees were separated from Luoyang only by a single Yellow River. A decisive move had to be made at once — before the other side caught wind, elite and capable officials must be dispatched overnight, following the intelligence Tang Zhou provided, to directly arrest that scoundrel and bring him to justice!

Second, an urgent edict must be sent to the officials of Jizhou, ordering them to employ the same method of decapitating the leadership and immediately seize Zhang Jiao!

However, after these two emergency measures were set in motion, when it came to the regional marshals and the members of their thirty-six divisions across the land, perhaps because the implications were too vast, the central authority split and fell into dispute for the first time!

Just look at those two Regular Palace Attendants who had thrown in with the Way of Great Peace — the great eunuchs of the Yellow Gate Supervisory Office had long been entangled with the Way of Great Peace, so they were plainly unwilling to see one root pulled up bringing mud with it. Thus, these men one after another advised the Son of Heaven that from the level of regional marshal downward, a public amnesty could be granted... The Han's majesty and virtue stood here, the Son of Heaven's sacred name was as ever — they were all subjects of the Han, merely deluded by the rebel leaders. One edict sent down and they would naturally find their way back from the lost path. Why must it come to a fight to the death?

But the Three Excellencies on one hand, and the various officials of the Imperial Secretariat on the other, though they too largely felt this matter should be dissolved into nothingness as much as possible, and that a full-scale upheaval must absolutely not be triggered by rashly widening the scope of the crackdown, nevertheless generally held that the rebel ringleaders such as the regional marshals must be severely punished! Otherwise, where would the Han's dignity and authority be?

On this, the Son of Heaven had some misgivings. This clever man had wasted too much time in the Western Garden and had already lost his basic judgment... He of course knew this matter was extremely serious and had to be treated with gravity, but he also knew there were certain ulterior motives behind the differing attitudes of these two factions, and so he could not help but harbor some suspicion.

In short, the Son of Heaven felt he needed to listen a little more, and think a little more.

In truth, why only the Son of Heaven? Among the Regular Palace Attendants who directly wielded imperial power on ordinary days, among the Three Excellencies and the Imperial Secretariat — these great figures who had thoroughly mastered the human heart, the law, and political games — how many of them could possibly imagine what was about to happen next?

At bottom, from the perspective of this moment, this was, after all, merely a treasonous plot exposed at the last critical juncture!

The scale was somewhat larger, the organization somewhat tighter... but could it truly shake the realm of the Great Han? Had the countryside already reached the point where "the realm has long suffered under the Han"?!

And so, while urgent pursuits and arrests began outside, within the court they still did not think in terms of military dynamics, but only wrangled endlessly from the angle of criminal law... as if every single regional marshal of the thirty-six divisions could be captured as easily as reaching into a bag.

On the fifteenth day of the second month, Ma Yuanyi, the most trusted and most powerful regional marshal of the Way of Great Peace, was arrested — captured as easily as reaching into a bag.

On the sixteenth day of the second month, the Jizhou Inspectorate, which temporarily had no Inspector in office, received the formal imperial decree in Yecheng. That same day, Ma Yuanyi was escorted back to Luoyang.

On the seventeenth day of the second month, after overnight interrogation confirmed everything without error, Ma Yuanyi was publicly torn apart by chariots. That same day, based on the confessions of the Way of Great Peace ringleaders arrested as co-conspirators with Ma Yuanyi, plus the two Regular Palace Attendants and their trusted followers, Luoyang shut its city gates. The Three Excellencies, the Imperial Secretariat, the Yellow Gate Supervisory Office, and the Office of the Colonel Director of the Capital Districts all moved out together. Starting with the suborned palace guards, they conducted a massive sweep of the entire city, and several thousand followers of the Way of Great Peace were arrested and thrown into prison.

On the eighteenth day of the second month, the Jizhou Inspectorate, under the urging of the court's envoys, attempted to arrest Zhang Jiao. But before they could even set out, multiple moles hidden within the province had already leaked the news. Zhang Jiao received word and hesitated no longer. He immediately launched his uprising ahead of schedule at Julu, and simultaneously used every means at his disposal to send word in all directions, summoning every large and small division across the land to rise up together.

And so, within a mere ten days, countless Yellow Turban followers, heads wrapped in yellow cloth, mouths chanting "The Azure Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall be established," from thirty-six divisions spread across seven provinces, all rose up at once!

Zhang Jiao proclaimed himself General of Heaven, his next younger brother Zhang Bao proclaimed himself General of Earth, and his youngest brother Zhang Liang proclaimed himself General of Man. Each, according to their prior plans, coordinated and maneuvered, attacking government offices and slaughtering officials as sacrifices to Heaven!

By the time matters reached this stage, the central authority was already somewhat panicked, but ultimately still steadied its footing. They first halted that laughable penal dispute before the imperial presence, then, with rare unity, formulated a military strategy with extreme efficiency. Immediately after, under the Son of Heaven's urging, they dispatched fast riders with orders to the commandery administrators, inspectors, and captains of every region, commanding them to mobilize troops and use military means to exterminate these Yellow Turban bandits on the spot!

However, what happened next — not even those at the center, I fear not even Zhang Jiao himself, could have anticipated... There was no helping it: the local government offices were simply far too fragile to withstand a single blow!

Within days, before the central authority's earlier military orders had even received any response, Luoyang first saw urgent dispatches arriving one after another, sent proactively by fast riders from every region. The dispatches showed that seven provinces and twenty-eight commanderies — You, Ji, Yan, Yu, Qing, Xu, and Jing — were all simultaneously sounding the highest alarm! Especially in Jizhou and the Yan-Yu region, the Yellow Turban Army was simply sweeping all before it! Local officials everywhere were abandoning their posts and fleeing; government offices stood empty. In Qinghe and Anping, the enfeoffed kings of two princedoms had even been captured alive!

Never mind exterminating them on the spot — the Great Han dynasty's rule in these two regions had almost entirely collapsed across the board!

"The realm answered as one, the capital trembled in shock" — that is probably the meaning of it.

And it was only at this point that the Son of Heaven and the various lords of the central authority fully awoke to the reality... but then, in turn, panicked to the point of utter bewilderment.

Truly, one cannot blame these central elites... Over a hundred years of peace, the worst being the Qiang rebellion in Liangzhou being a bit fiercer — who among them had ever seen a situation like the one before their eyes?!

The twenty-sixth day of the second month, Jiazi year. Zhuo Commandery, You Province.

By now, it was a mere seven or eight days since Zhang Jiao had raised his troops at Julu, yet Gongsun Xun had already abruptly learned of the main Yellow Turban force's whereabouts.

Of course, he had not been idle during these seven or eight days. For the first three days, he had essentially been purging the core members of the Way of Great Peace within Zhuoxian city and north of Zhuoxian, striving to contain the Way of Great Peace incident across half of Zhuo Commandery within the scope of a "criminal case"... As for the Way of Great Peace small division south of Zhuo Commandery, which had quickly rebelled and seized Fangcheng, he could basically only abandon it.

As for the following days, to be precise, after hearing that over half of Guangyang Commandery to the east had been taken by the Way of Great Peace, he was in fact laboring to relocate the common people from the eastern side of Zhuoxian.

According to the original plan, they should first strive to bring them into the city, then move them as much as possible toward the mountainous region northwest of Zhuo Commandery. However, this task had only been underway for a few days, and merely twenty to thirty thousand people had been gathered, when news suddenly came from the east: the main Yellow Turban force from Guangyang Commandery had abandoned its attacks on the remaining cities of Guangyang, and instead joined forces with the Yellow Turbans from the even further east Yuyang Commandery, heading directly for Zhuo Commandery.

This was within expectations... Zhuo Commandery was the gateway to You Province. If the two great cities of Zhuoxian and Fanyang were to fall into the hands of these You Province Yellow Turbans, they could immediately link up with their main base in Jizhou; moreover, they could in turn threaten the other commanderies and princedoms of You Province to the north from a posture where they could advance to attack or retreat to defend.

In fact, Gongsun Xun had believed from the very start that so long as the You Province Yellow Turbans possessed even a shred of strategic thinking, they would certainly commit their full strength to taking these two cities.

Only, he had never imagined that the enemy would come so quickly!

At this moment, it was a mere seven or eight days since Zhang Jiao raised his troops, a mere eleven or twelve days since that day Wei You came to inquire, and a mere sixty days since he, Gongsun Xun, had assumed the post of Grand Administrator of Zhuo Commandery!

"How many?" Inside the government office, Gongsun Xun, wearing a pheasant-tailed helmet and a saber at his waist but with his head bowed writing a document, visibly started, then immediately raised his head.

"Reporting to my lord," the volunteer retainer below hurriedly said, "roughly twenty to thirty thousand... at least over twenty-five thousand! There are too many people, and mainly because the rebel army marches without discipline, their order is far too chaotic — it's hard for us to make a precise estimate... By this evening, we may well see the rebel vanguard."

Guangyang Commandery and Zhuo Commandery share a border, or to put it bluntly, share a border with Zhuoxian. Its fallen southern cities have direct access to Zhuoxian, the distance being no more than a few dozen li... If they come to attack, the main force would take a day at most, and since You Province has many horses, if the Yellow Turban vanguard, having seized multiple cities, comes in cavalry form, they might arrive in half a day.

"That's not what I meant," Lu Fan beside him frowned and interjected. "I'm asking you, doesn't Guangyang only have one large division of the Way of Great Peace? Even counting this small division south of our Zhuo Commandery, even added together, they shouldn't exceed twenty thousand, right?"

The volunteer retainer quickly shook his head: "Reporting to Master Lu, those people have only just rebelled. Their march has no order whatsoever, and they are likely incapable of staging a feint... On the open plain, they covered the sky and blotted out the earth — it must be a great army of over twenty-five thousand! Moreover, this great army has almost entirely crossed the border from Guangyang Commandery to the east; we saw no sign of rebel forces converging from the southeast."

Lu Fan immediately abandoned his illusions and told the man to go and rest quickly... In truth, before this volunteer retainer had followed Gongsun Xun at Yanmen, he had been a scout in the local border army and was always an expert in this area. Lu Ziheng had also believed the man's judgment from the very core of his being.

It was just that this number was still somewhat shocking and nerve-wracking.

"Shuzhi, how many usable troops are there in the city right now?" As soon as the man left, Gongsun Xun in the host's seat, gripping his brush, immediately turned to look at Wang Xiu on the other side, who had been silent all along.

Wang Xiu, holding a scroll of documents, replied almost without hesitation: "That depends on whether my lord wishes to defend or to attack?"

"If defending, how many troops can we have?"

"If defending, the city right now has four to five thousand hands. In an emergency, if we recruit from the noble houses and good families, and also mobilize the able-bodied men in the city, we could have over ten thousand hands!" Wang Xiu, after a moment's thought, gave a definite answer.

"In other words," Gongsun Xun nodded slightly, "in terms of defending the city alone, there is probably nothing to worry about?"

"Correct."

"Then what if I wish to go out of the city and meet the enemy in open battle?" Gongsun Xun continued to ask. "How many troops can we have?"

"Counting the temporarily recruited wandering knights and the expanded commandery troops from before, we now have three hundred volunteer retainers, one thousand two hundred cavalry, and one thousand six hundred commandery infantry..."

"Three thousand troops?"

"No!" Wang Xiu immediately corrected. "There are also over a thousand able-bodied men previously sentenced to hard labor as wall-builders or assigned as robber-catchers. These men can assist in defending the city, but they require supervision. Moreover, the common people who have entered the city also number twenty to thirty thousand. Among so many, there are bound to be followers of the Way of Great Peace, who also need to be watched and overawed." At this point, Wang Shuzhi spoke frankly: "If my lord goes out to battle now, with the stability of this city in mind, I fear you can only take those one thousand five hundred cavalry..."

"What if we add temporary recruits from within the city?" Gongsun Xun still had not given up.

"It will take time," Wang Shuzhi answered solemnly. "Grain and cloth are sufficient, and so are iron for casting and timber, but turning them into weapons, uniforms, and banners all takes time. Without weapons, how can we march to battle?"

Gongsun Xun was left speechless.

"If only we were still in Zhongshan!" At that moment, Lu Fan, who had been silent for a long while, suddenly interjected in frustration.

The three men in the hall, along with Han Dang standing guard just inside the door, all fell silent at once.

In truth, the situation before them was the inevitable bitter consequence of Gongsun Xun's sudden transfer from Zhongshan to Zhuo Commandery!

In Zhongshan, he had toiled for three years, not only stockpiling vast quantities of military supplies and establishing a complete defensive line, but more importantly, under the banner of maintaining public order, he had used the so-called squad-and-file system to organize and train a "public security" force of five to six thousand men across the commandery.

This was a semi-professional military force, filled with the scions of local powerful families and men of good standing, systematically rooted in every city, county, village, and hamlet of Zhongshan. It could be rapidly mobilized once chaos erupted and expanded into a professional army of over ten thousand. With a more militaristic push, using it as a framework to pull together twenty or thirty thousand troops was not out of the question... Had he truly still been in Zhongshan, even if a larger force of the Taiping Dao came raiding, he dared not claim an immediate counterattack, but Gongsun Xun was very confident he could keep the enemy beyond the borders.

And now?

Of course, considering his mere sixty-day term of office, Gongsun Xun had already done the utmost. At the very least, he had exerted all his effort to ensure that Fanyang and Zhuo County, the two major cities of the commandery, had more than enough to hold their walls... and if they could drag things out, they should be able to gather strength and counterattack.

But it still came back to that same point: if he were in Zhongshan... he would have struck out long ago! How could he be reduced to sitting idly in the city, letting the enemy camp right under his walls?!

However, the stifled frustration of the four men quickly vanished the moment Lou Zibo came hurrying in from outside.

"My lord! Yigong, Ziheng, Shuzhi — have you learned of the enemy's troop strength?" Lou Zibo, his forehead drenched in sweat, asked in a fluster the moment he entered. "I met the messenger at the gate. Seeing how exhausted he was, I let him go rest first. If you don't yet know, I will relay the report on his behalf..."

"We already know," Lu Fan sighed helplessly. "Over twenty-five thousand men, crossing the border from Guangyang and heading straight for our Zhuo County..."

Lou Gui froze for a moment, then quickly shook his head: "Not that — I didn't know that yet. It's word sent from Shen Zhengnan's side, saying that in Jizhou, Zhang Bao himself is leading a grand army of fifty thousand northward, clearly heading for Fanyang!"

The other four men below the dais were uniformly stunned.

"Guangyang also has twenty or thirty thousand Yellow Turban rebels? And they're coming straight for us?" After a long pause, it was Lou Zibo himself who could no longer hold back, pressing repeatedly for confirmation. "This must be on Zhang Bao's military orders, meant to block us, right?"

No one answered him — the question, after all, answered itself.

In fact, it was a long while before Lu Fan, his face ashen, finally broke the silence: "Where in the world are all these rebel soldiers coming from?!"

"An excellent question!" Instead of anger, Gongsun Xun laughed, tossing the brush in his hand onto the table before slowly leaning back against the high-backed Grand Commandant's chair behind him.

Where had the Yellow Turban Army found so many "soldiers"?

Before the rebellion, Guangyang Commandery had only one major division of the Taiping Dao, which at the initial uprising amounted to barely ten thousand men. Yet just a few days later, as they turned toward Zhuo Commandery, their numbers had suddenly swelled to no less than twenty or thirty thousand... and of course it was no less, for they had only come this way after capturing several cities in Guangyang, where they must have left garrisons behind.

And while Zhang Bao was indeed the so-called General of the Earth, the main thrust of the Jizhou Yellow Turbans was inevitably directed southward toward Wei Commandery. The northern front in You Province was destined to be only a diversionary force — so how could it have conjured up fifty thousand men in a mere ten days?!

The answer was simple. In the end, the realm had long been poised to rebel! At the very least, this was true of the Hebei heartland!

Political corruption, land annexation, natural and man-made calamities — the government offices, the feudal princes, the eunuchs, the established clans, the local magnates, layer upon layer of exploitation, bleeding the people at every turn. The common folk had not a sliver of land to stand on. Not rebelling meant death; rebelling also meant death. So why not rebel alongside the Taiping Dao?!

And those local magnates — on one hand, they threw their weight around and acted with reckless abandon, feeding their ambitions; on the other, they had no path of advancement, unable to win renown or secure office, their resentment toward the Han throne seething... So why wouldn't they, on a reckless impulse, throw in their lot with the Zhang brothers and take a gamble?

In the immediate term, and even for some time to come, the Yellow Turban Army was bound to swell explosively. As they seized cities and conquered territory, every city taken would add a measure to their strength, every district overrun would pile on another heap of soldiers... No wonder there were "so many rebel soldiers"!

Of course, returning to the matter at hand, from Gongsun Xun's perspective, this was no time for lamentation. In truth, these thoughts merely turned over a few times in his mind, and he never voiced them aloud...

"My lord, what of Fanyang?" Lou Gui asked helplessly. "Fifty thousand enemy troops are marching to attack Fanyang, and the Guangyang Yellow Turbans have already crossed the border toward us. Even if Governor Guo wished to fall back to us now, I fear it is already too late, is it not?"

Gongsun Xun, who had remained silent for a long while, finally let out a faint sigh: "It is far more than just the Governor. The entire provincial inspectorate is now in Fanyang. Master Lu's family is also in Fanyang. Even Zhengnan is garrisoned at Beixincheng, west of Fanyang... How can we not go to their aid? And even setting all that aside, Fanyang and Zhuo County, linked as one line from south to north, can well be called the gateway to You Province. Once Fanyang falls, how many days of peace can our Zhuo County enjoy here? Fanyang must be relieved!"

Wang Xiu opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it of his own accord... He had been about to suggest drawing troops from Liangxiang to the north and Qiu State to the west, but on second thought — never mind how many troops could be drawn, with people's hearts so unsettled right now, what if someone stirred up trouble once the troops were moved? Would that not be carrying firewood to put out a fire?

"Governor Guo is, after all, the provincial governor. The other commanderies and states should surely send relief troops with full force, no?" A moment later, Lu Fan also asked with some uncertainty.

"Relief troops are almost a certainty. Even leaving aside the lands beyond the frontier, here in You Province there are several commanderies where the Taiping Dao's strength is weak and negligible. But there are two points to consider," Lou Gui immediately responded. "First, with Guangyang fallen, the roads are cut off. How many relief troops can come, and when they might arrive, is far from certain. Second, with fifty thousand Yellow Turbans besieging Fanyang, just how much ability does Governor Guo there truly possess, and can he hold out until relief arrives — that is equally uncertain."

"Zibo is right. We cannot pin our hopes on others." At that moment, Gongsun Xun, who had been sitting motionless for a long time, suddenly rose expressionlessly, hand on his sword, and spoke slowly. "And judging by the current situation, under this so-called overwhelming tide, we are not masters of our own fate. For now, in truth, we have only one stratagem... First, lure the Guangyang Yellow Turbans to the walls of Zhuo County. While using the strong fortifications to wear down their edge, we simultaneously mobilize every able-bodied man of good standing, every tenant, every convict in the city with all our might, so as to swiftly form an army. Then we march out to give battle, first crushing the enemy before us, before leading our elite troops south to break the siege of Fanyang! It must be done quickly!"

At this point, Gongsun Xun directly named names: "Ziheng, Shuzhi — the two of you are to begin full mobilization in the city at once. Recruit troops while rapidly forging weapons and equipment! Bring that Jian Yong along — no one is permitted to be idle at this hour!"

"Aye / Yes!" Lu Fan and Wang Xiu hurriedly acknowledged.

"Yigong, go to the military camp and summon all the commanders to the city wall. Zibo, come with me now. We will inspect the city defenses and boost the soldiers' morale while we await the enemy's arrival and look for their weak points." As Gongsun Xun spoke, he did not even don armor, but simply gripped the broken sword at his waist and strode out of the government office's main hall.

Lou Gui and Han Dang, of course, each acknowledged the order with stern respect.

Gongsun Xun walked out of the government office expressionlessly, but by the time he mounted his horse in front of the office, a smile had already plainly appeared on his face. When Gongsun Yue, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Qian Zhao, Wei Yue, Yang Kai, and others, led by Han Dang, ascended the gate tower to have an audience with this Grand Administrator of Zhuo Commandery, he was already there, chatting and laughing animatedly with Lou Gui.

The commanders looked at one another in bewilderment, yet inwardly they could not help but admire him... It must be understood that among these men, regardless of how many were so-called "Heroes of the Three Kingdoms," at this moment in time, more than half had never set foot on a battlefield!

In the tales of Lady Gongsun, that Guan Yunchang who always regarded enemy commanders as nothing more than heads for the taking had, at this point, only ever killed a man — he had truly never fought in a battle!

Zhang Yide was stalwart and mighty. In the sixty days Gongsun Xun had known him, he had never once doubted that this man was a "match for ten thousand," just like Guan Yunchang. However, this locally produced match for ten thousand from Zhuo County had only ever slaughtered pigs — he too had never fought in a battle!

On this matter, the entire city could bear witness!

As for the beardless Liu Xuande, never mind any Emperor Zhaolie — at this moment, he was merely a gangland boss who knew only how to collect protection fees from horse traders! And he had only pulled off that business by borrowing Gongsun Xun's banner!

And there was Qian Zhao. Gongsun Xun had no idea that this trusted personal retainer, whose face was as full of whiskers as Zhang Fei's, was, in another time and space, some famed general of Cao Wei, a pillar of the frontier — a man of righteous valor and illustrious martial achievement... But without a doubt, at this moment, this fellow Zijing also possessed absolutely no military experience whatsoever.

In fact, right here and now, these four "famous generals of the Three Kingdoms" put together probably had less exposure to warfare than any single one of the three men beside them — Gongsun Yue, Han Dang, or Wei Yue! And yet, even Han Dang, a fellow "famous general of the Three Kingdoms" and a so-called "Tiger Minister of Jiangdong," had not worn a worried expression earlier when he heard the news in the hall?

One must realize, the task of the men in Zhuo County at this moment was not to hold the city... but to swiftly annihilate the twenty-some thousand Guangyang Yellow Turbans about to arrive, and then to drive out the fifty thousand Jizhou Yellow Turbans about to enter Zhuo Commandery!

It was a wonder Gongsun Xun could still laugh.

"Gentlemen." Atop the eastern gate tower of Zhuo County, seeing the commanders arrive, Gongsun Xun ceased his banter with Lou Gui, but as he turned to face them, the smile still lingered on his face. One hand on his sword, he pointed with the other toward the flat horizon to the east. "You should all know by now — no fewer than thirty thousand Guangyang Yellow Turbans are right before us. If they do not arrive today, they will tomorrow... A flock of clay chickens and pottery dogs. I intend to annihilate these wretches within ten days, to repay the nation. Can you gentlemen swallow them up for me?"

Except for Guan Yunchang, whose face flushed red, every commander's expression changed.

—————— I am the laughing-and-joking divider ——————

"At the end of the Guanghe era, the Yellow Turbans rose abruptly. At that time, Xun had been Grand Administrator of Zhuo Commandery for a mere sixty days. The commandery's troops were not yet sufficient, provisions were wholly lacking, and he had further divided his forces with Inspector Guo Xun at Fanyang, thus appearing ever more inadequate... One day, as he stood upon the city wall with his commanders, a report suddenly came: 'Thirty thousand Guangyang Yellow Turbans are about to arrive.' The assembly, knowing the city had no more than three thousand troops, all changed color. Xun alone smiled slowly and said: 'Those fellows are but clay chickens and pottery dogs. Lend me your valor, gentlemen, and let us try to swallow them.' The commanders were thus reassured. Not long after, another report came: 'The entire state of Anping has fallen, its Prince captured. The rebel chieftain Zhang Bao, leading a hundred thousand troops, has already reached Fanyang.' The assembly again changed color and looked to Xun. He then slowly placed his hand on his sword and responded: 'In that case, gentlemen, you must swallow them quickly, and then help me hold off Zhang Bao at Fanyang!'" — Records of Heroes at the End of Han, by Wang Can

PS: Continuing to recommend a book — "Starting Today, Be Xiang Yu." In a word, to hell with the suicide at Wujiang, to hell with the Farewell My Concubine!

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