Chapter 3: The Yellow Turban Rebellion

  In these days, Zhang Fei had Liu Bei's mother moved to the Zhang residence. The four brothers spent their days together more harmoniously than ever before, quietly waiting for an auspicious day to swear brotherhood as sworn brothers of different surnames!

  In just a few days, the legendary auspicious day arrived. Zhang Fei prepared black oxen and white horses as sacrificial offerings in the Peach Garden. Why did Zhang Fei prepare the sacrificial offerings? The answer is because Zhang Fei is now the richest!

  "We swear to Heaven and Earth that we, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Li You, though of different surnames, are united as brothers in our quest for justice. We will assist each other in times of trouble and support the weak. We do not seek to be born on the same day, but we wish to die on the same day. May Heaven and Earth witness our oath! If we betray our oath, may we suffer the consequences!" After taking the oath, they appointed Liu Bei as their elder brother, Guan Yu next in line, Zhang Fei third, and Li You as their younger brother. They then offered sacrifices to Heaven and Earth and slaughtered a cow to celebrate with wine.

  After the swearing of brotherhood, the borrowed troops and supplies from Gongsun Zan soon arrived at Zhang Fei's mansion. Gongsun Zan was very generous to Liu Bei, lending him 1,000 cavalrymen, 500 infantrymen, 2,000 taels of gold and silver, and 2,000 sacks of grain. Most importantly, he also lent a great general - Zou Dan! As for Lu Zhi, only a dozen or so servants arrived with 100 taels of silver and a letter.

  The letter roughly means that the imperial guards and military rations are not to be lent out, but now he has sent a servant from his household to deliver 100 taels of silver to Xuande as capital. This shows how upright Lu Zhi is as an official!

  Liu Bei brought Zou Dan into Zhang's mansion, and Zhang Fei ordered his servants to set up a banquet to entertain him. Guan Yu and Li You accompanied them. Wang Xue was very displeased with this matter, but in the end, because of the ancient customs that women rarely showed their faces, she had no choice but to silently accept it.

  Zou Dan asked Liu Bei at the banquet, "I don't know when Gong Zhong will prepare enough food and grass to start selling and transporting. After all, our family is an official of the imperial court for a long time, and it's inconvenient in many ways!"

  Liu Bei said: "This matter is entirely up to Fourth Brother's decision!"

  Li Yu stood up and said: "General Zou Dan, I'll trouble you to collect grain and fodder now. After all, as an official army, you need to be given three points of courtesy wherever you go! I'll let San Ge clean up the warehouse! I and Da Ge are now planning the total amount of funds, and let Er Ge recruit more people!" Wang Yu understood that in this chaotic world, the price of grain and fodder would not be high yet. In the future, when fighting wars, what was needed most was grain and fodder, so today they should collect as much grain and fodder as possible for use in future wars! As for letting Guan Yu find people, this was secretly recruiting soldiers, and there were still several days before the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

  Zou Dan said: "Alright! I'll go now! General Gong Sun's place, don't know when he will send his subordinates to do other tasks!" After finishing speaking, he got up and left the door.

  It only took a day or two, and indeed, Zou Dan deserves praise. His ability to handle things is still very high. He spent very little money but managed to buy a lot of grain, and the price he paid was almost as low as the official market price! This ability is really impressive!

  Zhang San had already tidied up the warehouse early on. When he saw Zou Dan bringing so much grain and fodder, he was taken aback!

  While Guan Yu, the second lord of Guan, also recruited many soldiers and horses. Lord Guan was still very good at recruiting people, those who caught his eye were all skilled in some simple martial arts!

  Liu Bei and Wang Yu also concentrated all their financial resources together! After calculating, it was enough to cover the current expenses, plus Zhang Fei's sale of his property earned a lot of silver!

  They five people are recuperating at Zhang Fei's mansion, quietly waiting for the great change in the world! Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are training the recruits and soldiers! Wang Xue is always with Li Yu, making others jealous, and giving Old Zhang a headache! Because Wang Xue often goes to Old Zhang to ask for bean powder, now it's become bean milk! Old Zhang is indeed a multi-talented person! The most important thing is that Guan Er Ye has also been implicated, chasing after Li Yu every day. However, during this period of time, everyone has come to understand each other better!

  Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, the two of them, truly returned to Liu Bei's master in the trend of history. They also truly admired Li Yu, this motley crew, because they saw that Li Yu was both civil and martial, and especially willing to engage with him!

  The great change in the world has finally taken place! In 184 AD (the year of Jiazi), a severe drought occurred nationwide. The grain harvest was poor, but taxes were not reduced, and the impoverished peasants had no way out. Under the leadership of Zhang Jue from Julu, they rose up in revolt, wearing yellow turbans and shouting slogans such as "The blue sky is dead, the yellow sky should rise, it's the year of Jiazi, great luck for the world!" They launched a fierce attack on the corrupt officials and landlords. This was the famous Yellow Turban Rebellion in history. Although the rebellion ultimately failed, the corrupt Eastern Han dynasty was already on its last legs under the impact of the peasant uprising. Zhang Jue had planned with his followers to rise up in revolt on March 5th, using the slogan "The blue sky is dead, the yellow sky should rise, it's the year of Jiazi, great luck for the world!" The "blue sky" referred to the Eastern Han, while the "yellow sky" referred to the Taiping Dao. According to the theory of the Five Virtues, the Han dynasty was associated with the fire virtue, which gave birth to the earth virtue, and the color yellow represented the earth. Therefore, all followers wore yellow turbans as a symbol, representing their desire to replace the corrupt Eastern Han. On one hand, Zhang Jue sent people to write the characters "Jiazi" on the gates of government offices as a signal; on the other hand, he sent Ma Yuanyi to Jingzhou and Yangzhou to gather tens of thousands of people in Ye, and repeatedly went to Luoyang to collude with eunuchs Feng Xu and Xu Gong.

  However, one month before the uprising, a disciple named Tang Zhou betrayed Zhang Jue and exposed the insider in the capital, Ma Yuanyi. Ma was executed by being torn apart by carts, and government troops began to arrest and kill followers of the Taiping Dao, killing over 1,000 people and issuing orders for Hebei Province to pursue Zhang Jue. Due to the sudden turn of events, Zhang Jue was forced to launch the uprising a month early in February. The rebellion became known as the Yellow Turban Rebellion or Yellow Turban Revolt because the rebels wore yellow scarves on their heads, earning them the nickname "Yellow Scarves" or "Yellow Bandits". Zhang Jue called himself the "Heavenly General", while his brothers Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang were called the "Earthly General" and "Human General" respectively. They burned down government buildings, killed officials and soldiers, and plundered everywhere. Within a month, war broke out in seven states and twenty-eight counties across the country. The Yellow Turban Army was unstoppable, with state and county governments collapsing and officials fleeing in terror, shaking the imperial capital.

  On this day, Zou Dan rushed into the house and said to Liu Bei and others including Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Li You: "It's all over! There are peasant uprisings everywhere. Our business is ruined. What shall we do?"

  Liu Bei was stunned and it was true what his fourth brother said, the whole world is in chaos!

  Master Guan nodded silently, and so did Master Zhang!

  At this time, only Li Yu stood up and said: "The trend of the world is that after a long period of division, it must be united, and after a long period of unity, it must be divided. The seven countries were divided at the end of the Zhou Dynasty and entered into Qin. After Qin was destroyed, Chu and Han were divided and then merged into Han. The Han Dynasty started from Emperor Gaozu's uprising against the white snake and unified the world. Later, Emperor Guangwu revived the dynasty. If we analyze the current situation that led to chaos, it probably started with Emperors Huan and Ling. Emperor Huan imprisoned good people and believed in eunuchs. After Emperor Huan died, Emperor Ling ascended to the throne, and General Dou Wu and Grand Tutor Chen Fan assisted each other. At that time, there were eunuchs like Cao Jie who manipulated power, and Dou Wu and Chen Fan planned to kill them, but their plan was not secret, and they were harmed instead. The eunuchs became more and more arrogant! The people suffered greatly! Today, the chaotic situation of the world creates heroes, and heroes emerge in a chaotic era. Now, this chaotic era will inevitably shake the foundation of the great Han Dynasty! Only my elder brother Liu Bei Liu Xuande can save it! Now I am sure that the court has no more soldiers or horses! It must issue a proclamation to each state to recruit soldiers and buy horses to resist the Yellow Turbans!

  With the scheduled Yellow Turban Rebellion, everyone is no longer suspicious, only Zou Dan is still in doubt! After all, he is a regular court official! However, after this period of getting along, he also admired these four brothers!

  Just then, Zou Dan led the soldiers to report that Liu Yan had issued a notice to recruit troops! In an instant, Zou Dan really admired Li Yu and was deeply impressed!

  Zou Dandao said: "Brother Li is indeed a divine person!"

  Wang Xue came out of the back hall and said with a flattering tone: "What the hell! He's just...!"

  Before he could finish speaking, he was already wrapped in Li Yu's arms! The rest is history!

  Those sitting there aren't outsiders either, so they're used to seeing the two of them!

  Liu Bei sighed and said: "But there are no soldiers or generals! What can be done!"

  "Master, Zou Dan is willing to follow your orders! Through mountains of knives and seas of fire! I will not shirk my duty!"

  Li Yudao said, "Big brother, please be at ease. We now have enough money and food. Third brother has already sold all his property, so we can recruit 2,000 soldiers. Adding the 1,500 soldiers of General Zou Dan, that's a total of 3,550 people! This force is not small."

  "Brother! When the enemy comes, we'll fight; when the flood comes, we'll dam it. What's there to fear?"

  Guan Yu also said: "Elder brother, with brothers around, why fear the bandit Huang Zu?"

  Wang Xue also came in and said: "The second master and the third master are indeed mighty! All kinds of mightiness! However, since ancient times, there has been no square without rules! Shouldn't we set a rule for ourselves? A country has its laws, a family has its rules! Therefore, military discipline is very important!"

  Li Yu also received a message saying: "In today's world, the people are suffering unbearably. We must take ending the chaotic era as our mission. What is the most important thing in military discipline and regular rules?"

  "What's going on?"

  "It is to serve the people wholeheartedly! We must take it as our mission to end the chaotic world, we must bid farewell to the dark politics of the past! We want to make the people believe that there is still a future! Only then can we truly gain the love and respect of the common people!"

  "Right! Our great banner is to replace heaven and govern the world! Liu Lao Da himself is a descendant of the royal family! Replacing heaven and governing the world, this is justified!" Wang Xue also said.

  Guan Er Ye also said: "Big brother is now like a dragon swimming in shallow waters, he must have ambitions to soar to the sky! I am willing to follow big brother!"

  Zhang Fei also followed: "Some families are also willing to follow Big Brother!"

  Liu Bei looked at this and slowly walked to the main seat. He had been thinking about some issues quietly. Then he sat down and said, "Appoint Li Yu as the commander-in-chief of the whole army! Guan Yu as the vanguard! Zhang Fei as the left wing, Wang Xue as the right wing, Zou Dan Ya in charge of transporting grain and grass, and the rear team will follow up! As I order, whoever disobeys will be beheaded!" (At this time, it can be seen that Li Yu's position in Liu Bei's team has become clear. Although he was sworn as a brother last, his position is actually second only to Liu Bei.)

  Li Yu knelt down and said: "Brother, I will not humiliate your great reputation! All officers and soldiers listen to orders!"

  Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Wang Xue, Zou Dan. Together they replied: "Present!"

  Li Yu said: "Guan Erge, in charge of creating the great banner for Tiān Xiàodào! And to recruit and entertain famous people from all over the world. All donations will be accepted as is!"

  "Right!"

  Li Yu said: "Brother Zhang San, you are in charge of the training and daily life of the entire army. In addition, the troops will be reformed into units of ten soldiers each, with one squad leader and one deputy squad leader for every ten squads, one platoon leader and one deputy platoon leader for every ten platoons, one company commander, one deputy company commander, and one instructor for every ten companies, and one regimental commander, one political commissar, and one deputy regimental commander for every ten regiments!"

  Zhang Fei swaggered in: "Alright, Little Fourth, you just watch closely!"

  Li Yu said, "Zou Dan, you have two important tasks. You can set off immediately. First, rush to Yucheng, Yangzhai (now Yuzhou, Henan) to find someone named Guo Jia, courtesy name Fengxiao. Then, hurry to Changshan, Zhending (now Zhengding, Hebei Province) to look for another person. This person is eight feet tall, with a majestic appearance, surname Zhao, given name Mingyun, and courtesy name Zilong! Go quickly!"

  Then Li Yu ordered Wang Xue to organize the first female medical team in Chinese history!

  Li Yu himself has publicly written a recruitment notice!

  In a few days, Liu Bei gathered again in the countryside, gathering more than 500 brave men, totaling 4,000 soldiers and horses, with 1,000 cavalry, 2,000 infantry, and 1,000 archers. They drank heavily in the Peach Garden. The next day, they prepared to gather their military equipment, but lamented that there were too few horses. Li Yu remembered that in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, two wealthy merchants had once assisted Liu Bei. At this time, he heard that two guests had arrived with a group of companions and a herd of horses, coming to the village. Li Yu said, "This is heaven's help for me!" The three men went out to welcome them. It turned out that the two guests were wealthy merchants from Zhongshan: Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, who traveled north every year to buy horses but had recently returned due to bandits. Liu Bei invited the two men to his village, treated them with wine, and Li Yu explained their intention to defeat the enemy and bring peace to the people. The two guests were overjoyed and offered to give 50 fine horses; they also gave 500 taels of gold and silver and 1,000 catties of iron to aid in their equipment needs.

  Liu Bei personally bid farewell to the two guests and ordered a good craftsman to forge a pair of double-edged swords. Guan Yu forged a Green Dragon Crescent Blade, also known as "Cold Light Saw", weighing 82 catties. Zhang Fei forged an eight-foot steel spear. Each was equipped with full-body armor, Li Yu forged a square sky painting halberd and a pair of tempered bronze gauntlets. Again, gathered more than 500 soldiers, totaling over 4,000 men and horses, as well as over 100 medical soldiers, Li Yu sent them to various squads and platoons! This is eight times the price of Liu Bei's uprising! (Yesterday someone asked if Zhang Fei wasn't a butcher? What money did he have? According to the Romance, Zhang Fei was eight feet tall, with a leopard head and ring eyes, a swallowtail beard, a voice like thunder, and momentum like a galloping horse. He lived in Zhuo County, had some farmland, sold wine and slaughtered pigs, and liked to make friends with heroes from all over the world.)

  On this day, Liu Bei also welcomed his good friend Jian Yong. Jian Yong (year of birth and death unknown), courtesy name Xianhe, was a native of Zhuo County (now Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province). His original surname was Geng, but the people of Youzhou called him Jian, so he changed his surname to Jian. He was an advisor under Liu Bei during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period. When he was young, he became acquainted with Liu Bei and later followed him on his travels. He often served as a negotiator and envoy, and when Liu Bei besieged Chengdu, Jian Yong persuaded Liu Zhang to surrender. Soon after, he was appointed as General Zhao De, ranking below Mi Zhu. Jian Yong excelled at debate and discussion. His personality was straightforward and simple, not bound by trivial matters. When sitting with Liu Bei, he would sit cross-legged, disregarding formal etiquette. When interacting with people other than Zhuge Liang, he would occupy a separate couch, conversing while reclining, never yielding to others. This shows the close relationship between Jian Yong and Liu Bei, which was exactly what Liu Bei needed at this time!

  Look at Liu Bei now, there are no longer any scholars, all are generals. Only Li Yu is someone who can be used as a civil official. With Jian Yong's arrival, he has helped to alleviate the burden on Li Yu!

  Li Yu immediately ordered that the task of allocating food and grass, and seeking out talented individuals be fully entrusted to Jian Yun!

  In just a few days, someone came to report that Liu Yan had sent someone to invite him! Liu Bei was deceived! However, Liu Bei immediately brought Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Li Yi, Wang Shuang, and others to rush to Liu Yan's mansion.

  Originally, the governor of Youzhou, Liu Yan, was a native of Jiangxia's Jingling, and a descendant of Han's King Gong of Lu. At that time, he heard that the Yellow Turban bandits were approaching, so he summoned the Colonel Zhōu Jìng to discuss countermeasures. Jìng said: "The enemy is numerous, our troops are few, Your Excellency should quickly recruit soldiers to respond to the enemy. I have heard that in Zhuo County there is a man named Liu Bei who has gathered several thousand men and horses, you can entrust him with an official position and summon him to defeat the bandits."

  Liu Yan lined up to welcome Liu Bei, who was different from the Three Kingdoms and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Now that can also be said to have a strong army with sufficient food, with 4,000 men under his command, which is still a considerable military force today. With Li Yu, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Wen, although weak in literature, at least there was a simple and majestic appearance! This is a clear example of the barrel of the gun coming to power!

  Liu Yan invited Liu Bei into his mansion and said: "I heard that you, my virtuous nephew, are also a member of the Han imperial family, being a descendant of Zhongshan Jing Wang. Is this true?"

  Liu Bei said: "Exactly!"

  Liu Yan said: "In terms of generation, I am your uncle!"

  Liu Bei got up and knelt down, saying: "Uncle is above, receiving a bow from his humble nephew!" It has to be said that Liu Bei really has a set of skills when it comes to gathering people's hearts!

  Liu Yan hastily got up to support him and said: "Worthy nephew, no need to be polite. Now the Yellow Turban bandit, Cheng Yuanzhi, is leading his army to attack. I ask you, worthy nephew, to lead the army with Zou Jing to defeat the enemy, can you?"

  Liu Bei was about to agree, when Li Yu spoke up again: "Governor, it is said that if the name is not correct, then the words will not be in order. Now we have no official position or authority, and this trip would not be in accordance with reason and emotion. Furthermore, as for us going with General Zou Jing, who would listen to whom? There must be a distinction between superior and inferior! Moreover, although we have men and horses, they are newly enlisted and have not yet participated in actual combat, and we lack swords, spears, armor, and mounts! Please forgive us, Governor!"

  Liu Yan paced back and forth, saying: "This is easy to handle. Liu Bei will be appointed as the General of the Imperial Guard, with a salary of 2,000 dan, as the commander-in-chief. Zou Jing will be appointed as the Colonel of the Rebel-quelling Army, as the deputy commander. Li Yu will be appointed as the Colonel of the Rebel-punishing Army. Guan Yu will be appointed as the Colonel of the Tiger and Leopard Brigade. Zhang Fei will be appointed as the Colonel of the Infantry Regiment. Jian Yong will be appointed as the Chief Secretary. As for Wang Yue, since she is a woman and there is no precedent in our dynasty, let's just follow Liu Bei's arrangement. Apart from the 4,000 troops you have, Zou Jing has 5,000 troops under his command. I will dispatch 5,000 more troops from the surrounding states and counties. We will also provide 30,000 arrows, 5,000 sets of armor, 2,000 swords, 3,000 spears, and 2,000 horses! As for the military expenses, the prefecture will provide them. Let's allocate three months' worth of military expenses first. You can see if it's enough to defeat the rebels once and for all. Cheng Yuanzhi and Deng Mao can lead 50,000 elite troops to attack our army and besiege Qingzhou!"

  "Please be assured, sir, we will capture the bandits this very morning!"

  "Alright! I'll wait for good news!"

  Liu Bei led Li Yu, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Jian Yong to thank him and leave!

  Liu Yan seemed to be afraid that Liu Bei would change his mind. Before Liu Bei and the others had even settled down at home, people arrived with supplies, and there were also troops!

  Li Yu immediately ordered the troops to be fully armed and repeatedly declared that this battle must be won, and that anyone who dared to rob civilians would be killed! He also said: "We are a people's army, and everything is based on serving the people!" From then on, this group of soldiers officially stepped onto the stage of history!

  Li Yu reorganized his troops in Zhuo County for three days, and on the third day, he led his army to set out. Liu Bei handed over the command to Li Yu! He rushed straight to the place where Cheng Yuanzhi and Deng Mao's horses were stationed, preparing for battle!

  The war has begun, everyone pay attention!