Chapter 9: The Yellow Turbans Rise Again

  Yellow Turban?

  When he heard the news of the Yellow Turban bandits, Liu Xuan stopped chatting with Liu Zi and signaled to Zhang Liao to tell him more about the situation.

  When they saw the emperor and his ministers discussing state affairs, Cai Yan and Liu Zi both consciously closed their mouths and did not speak, but they did not leave. Instead, they stood there firmly, as if wanting to hear more clearly.

  Liu Xuan didn't mind, after all, these women were all close to him, and this news wasn't a secret anyway. Zhang Liao saw that Liu Xuan was not concerned, so he handed over a memorial and told him the situation: "Liu Shilang also just received the news, in November, Nan Hua gathered the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in the east of Yu Province to rebel, and within a few days, they took down Pei and Qiao counties. It's said that the Yellow Turban army is mobilizing, with intentions to attack Xuzhou to the east."

  Zhang Liao's report was based on the new division of states and counties, which Liu Xuan had taken a look at in the first place, so after turning it over in his mind for a moment, he already knew which place was occupied by the Yellow Turbans.

  Pei State is located in the eastern part of Yu Province, adjacent to Pengcheng County and Xiapei County of Xuzhou, with Lu State to its north, Jiao County and Liang State to its west, and Ruyin County to its southwest. It's a place where four roads meet and eight directions are connected. The Yellow Turbans started their uprising here, it seems that Nan Hua is quite confident.

  But the Liu Shilang referred to is actually the Left Servitor of the Ministry of War, Liu Ye. Since his promotion to this position, Liu Ye has been dealing with intelligence matters... Alas, in this era, establishing an intelligence network was not an easy task, let alone starting from scratch without any foundation.

  But even so, Liu Ye initially established a channel for gathering intelligence, which was able to transmit the news of the Yellow Turbans' rebellion in time.

  Every time he thought of this, Liu Xuan felt a sense of depression. As the emperor, it took a month for the news that Nan Hua had rebelled to reach him, although there were also factors such as vassals carving up territories and messages being difficult to transmit, but it could also be seen how weak the imperial court's control over the eastern provinces was.

  Nan Hua gathered the remnants of the Yellow Turbans and launched a rebellion. It's impossible that there were no signs of unrest beforehand, but astonishingly, not one of these people thought to report it to the imperial court. This shows what kind of position the imperial court holds in their minds.

  Now Nan Hua has rebelled, and it is still relying on the imperial court's own news network to pass back messages. Those vassals did not consult with the imperial court either. I estimate that those several vassal states are taking advantage of this opportunity to expand their own strength, and they will probably only think of informing the imperial court when their expansion is almost complete.

  Perhaps in their eyes, they are just the remnants of the Yellow Turbans, and with a wave of their hand, the army will disperse as soon as they pass by. At that time, they can still capture some strong men to continue strengthening their own strength.

  But Liu Xuan thought that the old thing from Nan Hua finally took the initiative to jump out...

  "Hmph, let those fools suffer a bit too."

  Nan Hua this old man has jumped out, that proves the guy already has enough confidence, this time will not be easily settled like in the past.

  Nan Hua's own strength is also considered strong in this world, can those vassals under the lords' command handle it? Moreover, among the remnants of the Yellow Turban bandits, there are not no talents at all. As long as Nan Hua makes good use of his own strength and those few talents, occupying a somewhat chaotic area like Yu Province is not a difficult task.

  I made an estimate in my mind, when this news came back, Xuzhou was facing the danger of being attacked. Now that it has been passed to me for a month, even if Xuzhou hasn't been taken down, I'm afraid it has suffered heavy losses.

  "It's strange that those several vassals might say they want to take the opportunity to develop their own power, but Tao Qian doesn't even have a single message coming over?"

  Liu Xuan didn't know that when Tao Qian was attacked by the Yellow Turban rebels, he immediately reported the matter to the imperial court. However, due to the long distance and lack of assistance from other lords along the way, the urgent letter was still on its way until it reached the territory of Henan Governor Kong Rong, who responded promptly and hastily sent it to the capital.

  "How is the situation in Yu Province now?"

  Taking Zhang Liao to the Weiyang Palace, he asked about the situation while walking. Compared to the lack of understanding of the Yellow Turbans, the imperial court still had enough information about these local officials who were nominally under its jurisdiction.

  But Henan province is not doing well.

  "Yuzhou currently has no one in charge. Originally, General Yuan Shu had petitioned for Sun Jian to be appointed as the governor of Yuzhou, but now that Sun Jian is dead from the conflict with Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, Yuzhou is indeed without a ruler. Although it is actually under Yuan Shu's control, the area occupied by the remnants of the Yellow Turbans happens to be the weakest part of his territory."

  Zhang Liao said, "The Yellow Turbans also have capable people. Otherwise, how could they be so accurate?" Compared to the previous time, which seemed grand but was actually chaotic and lawless, this time it's truly worthy of making the imperial court officials worry.

  As expected, Liu Xuan also realized that Nan Hua's actions would cause a lot of trouble, especially since the Yellow Turbans were not just limited to those few. As Zhang Jiao's master, when he called out from a high place, all the Yellow Turbans in the world would definitely respond together. In such a short period of time, it was impossible for them to gather in Pei Guo, and there must be others elsewhere.

  He had just made a guess, and saw Liu Ye standing in the courtyard in front of the Wenshui Temple, pacing back and forth. When he saw Liu Xuan coming, he immediately came forward to pay his respects, then hastily said: "Your Majesty, we have received another urgent letter, there are large numbers of Yellow Turban bandits appearing in the eastern part of Yan Province and the northern part of Xu Province, they have already occupied the Tai Mountain County and Langya County, the urgent letters from Liu Dai, the governor of Yan Province, and Tao Qian, the shepherd of Xu Province, have just arrived!"

  While speaking, he handed the letter in his hand to Liu Xuan to look at. Liu Xuan took it over and didn't directly flip through it, but instead ordered Cao Jiao: "Go and have Zhong Yao summon the three dukes, nine ministers, and six departmental secretaries into the palace."

  As for what happened, Liu Xuan felt it was unnecessary to say, these guys weren't deaf, they all had their own channels of information. Moreover, with the resurgence of the Yellow Turbans being such a big deal, how could they possibly be unaware? He estimated that by now they were already dressed and waiting for his summons, some even rushing to the imperial palace in haste.

  "Go to the Golden Flower Temple!"

  Jinhua Hall was where grand court meetings were held on ordinary days. Liu Xuan summoned all the high-ranking officials to that place, which also showed the importance of this matter.

  He then ordered another eunuch, "Quickly summon the Central Protector of the Army Liu Bei, General of the West Lu Bu, General Who Conquers the West Cao Cao and the Governor of Si Province Huangfu Song to the Golden Hua Hall!"

  If the previous recruitment was for the most important people among the civil officials, then this time it's for Liu Xuan's most powerful generals. This group of people is the top talent under Liu Xuan's command, and the court relies on them to handle major military and national affairs.

  He quickly walked to the Jin Hua Hall, and Liu Xuan had just sat down when he saw Cao Cao arrive. With his waist adorned with the Equilibrium Sword, after making a bow, he didn't say much, directly took his seat, then remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.

  Lü Bu, Yuan Yi, and Wang Yun arrived one after another. In no time, all the people summoned by Liu Xuan had arrived. Judging from their speed, Liu Xuan knew that his edict had not yet been issued, and these people were rushing to the imperial palace, mostly with half-way instructions.

  Seeing that everyone has arrived, Liu Xuan didn't say much and directly put the several memorials in his hand on the case: "I suppose you all have already received the news. Now that the Yellow Turban bandits have risen again, do you gentlemen have any good strategies?"

  Several people looked at each other, and finally Taishi Yang Bi spoke up: "The Yellow Turban bandits are not worth worrying about. As long as an edict is issued to the lords of Guandong to take care of it themselves, I think it won't be long before they can be pacified!"

  At that time, the Yellow Turbans were more frightening than they are now, but weren't they dealt with in just a few battles? So Yang Biao didn't think much of the Yellow Turbans' fighting strength, it's just that these Yellow Turbans couldn't be eliminated no matter how hard they tried, which was really frustrating.

  Liu Xuan took a look and found that most people thought so, the only exception being his most trusted confidants - these people knew more or less what kind of existence was behind the Yellow Turban rebels, so they were not so optimistic about this resurgence of the Yellow Turbans.

  But what worried the many old ministers was another matter: the Yellow Turbans were not to be feared, what worried them was that the Yellow Turbans would erupt again, and the Eastern Han lords would have an excuse to expand their military power, which for the courtiers who wanted to restore the glory of the Han dynasty, was absolutely not good news.

  Even if the Yellow Turbans are pacified this time, it is estimated that the power of the Guandong lords will become even stronger, and the court wants to regain control over the Guandong counties...

  Moreover, the timing chosen by the Yellow Turbans was also a headache for them. Did they rise up in winter? Were these Yellow Turbans unable to survive the winter and therefore deliberately chose this season that is fundamentally unsuitable for war?

  It was precisely because of this that the various vassals were caught off guard, and in a short period of just one month, they lost four counties. This situation was absolutely unthinkable for them on ordinary days.

  The hall was slightly quiet for a moment, and Wang Yun spoke up: "There is still a barrier between the two counties of Taishan and Langya, and it is also a certain distance from Pei State. The key now is that we cannot let the Yellow Turbans connect with each other, otherwise it will be troublesome."

  Wang Yun did not look at things from a military point of view, but from another aspect.

  He pondered the places where the Yellow Turban rebels had risen, and found that they were all concentrated in the eastern region, and not far apart. If it was unintentional, it would be fine, but if it was intentional, it would prove that the Yellow Turbans had the intention of dividing the country. If so, the dignity of the imperial court would undoubtedly suffer a severe blow.

  Although there are many vassals now, they still nominally submit to the imperial court on the surface, and the dignity of the imperial court is still maintained. But the Yellow Turbans... they absolutely cannot submit to the imperial court, their purpose in rebelling is precisely to overthrow the imperial court. If they were allowed to occupy a region and become a force to be reckoned with, wouldn't that prove that the imperial court was powerless against them?

  If the vassals see this situation, they will follow suit one after another. Wouldn't that be another Spring and Autumn period or Warring States period? Moreover, the imperial court would no longer be the master of the world, but become one of the vassals contending for hegemony over the world.