Control your ancestors and create an immortal family starting from the Eastern Han Dynasty

Chapter 231 Tang Zhong (Part 1)

Wang Xianzhi is dead.

This seems to be good news for the Tang Dynasty at present.

After all, he was the first to raise the flag of rebellion.

The complete annihilation of him is undoubtedly a heavy blow to the rebel forces on all sides.

But almost no one could have predicted that for the Tang Dynasty at that time, the greatest threat was never Wang Xianzhi, but always the man with unwavering faith and an unyielding determination to resist—Huang Chao.

This so-called "annihilation of Wang Xianzhi" was not a fortunate event for the Tang Dynasty.

on the contrary--

When Wang Xianzhi's remaining troops defected to Huang Chao, this victory turned into aiding the enemy.

Fuzhou.

"Brother Wang, rest assured."

"I am determined to carry on my brother's will, sweep away the dust from this world, and carve out a bright and clear future."

Huang Chao stood before the people and solemnly offered sacrifices to Wang Xianzhi.

This is not pretense, nor is it an attempt to win people over.

He genuinely thought so.

Gu Yi clearly realized that Huang Chao was going further and further down the path he firmly believed in.

The beliefs of such people far exceed what ordinary people can imagine.

Although, in Gu Yi's modern eyes, all of this was wrong.

The so-called "equal distribution of power" has always been just a fantasy. Not only at that time, but even today with highly developed productivity, it is still impossible to achieve.

This is a fundamental mistake.

But Gu Yi couldn't say anything about it.

As the Chinese nation has developed to this point, many things were already predetermined after Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uttered the famous question, "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?"

This is the resilience of the Chinese nation.

Beyond the surface-level chaos, the so-called chaotic era was actually driving the development of the entire Kyushu region.

The lessons of history, though not remembered by everyone, subtly alter the course of the times in many small ways.

Just like when the Han Dynasty was destroyed.

Only by constantly moving forward can we drive change in the times.

Amidst the billowing smoke, Huang Chao's hair fluttered in the wind.

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around with a resolute gaze, facing the countless "army" before him, and slowly drew the long sword from his waist:

"From this day forward, I shall inherit the general's will and be known as—the Great General of Peace and Balance, the Supreme Protector of the Sky!"

"Lead my brothers and shatter the heavens!"

—Breaking through the sky!

These three words exploded like thunder, and in an instant, shouts erupted one after another.

"Break through the heavens!!!"

"Break through the heavens!!!"

"Break through the heavens!!!"

The shouts, like thunder, shook the surrounding area and resounded throughout the entire world.

Just when the rebels' morale was at its peak.

Without the slightest hesitation, Huang Chao led everyone out to fight once again.

—The world situation has changed dramatically!
Even before the news of Wang Xianzhi's annihilation had fully spread, Huang Chao successively captured several more cities.

Moreover, Huang Chao showed no intention of stopping.

Whether they were officials or noble families, they all fell under his sword.

Furthermore, Huang Chao was unlike anyone before him.

His targeting of the aristocratic families was not merely for plunder; even though the aristocratic families had already submitted, Huang Chao showed them no mercy.

He truly acted like a killing machine, challenging the entire world of the Tang Dynasty.

This will naturally attract criticism from everyone.

Just like Gu Xi in the past.

No, in some ways, what Huang Chao is doing now has actually surpassed what Gu Xi did in the past.

This has nothing to do with achievements.

Gu Xi carried too much burden; he couldn't possibly be as absolute as Huang Chao.

Huang Chao, on the other hand, has now left himself no way out.

This will ultimately bring him even greater resistance.

Although the central government of the Tang Dynasty was already rotten, in the face of Huang Chao's actions, officials and noble families alike had no choice but to put aside their past grievances and join forces to resist him.

Especially considering that Wang Xianzhi is already dead.

This will put Huang Chao under tremendous pressure.

It should be noted that the fighting capacity of the Tang Dynasty's soldiers has completely deteriorated.

However, these people still had a natural advantage when facing a rebel army composed of a group of refugees.

This is a gap that Huang Chao could not bridge in a short period of time.

But he was ultimately different from Wang Xianzhi.

Whether it was the supervision of his subordinates or his overall thinking, Huang Chao was much more mature.

Faced with the imperial court's encirclement and suppression.

After watching as the army's situation gradually deteriorated.

Huang Chao immediately made a choice.

Abandon all the cities we have already captured, cross the Yangtze River and inquire about the south!

This is indeed a very risky move, but the potential benefits are also astonishing.

Amid the continued prosperity of maritime trade.

Today, the Jiangnan region is already vaguely resembling the richest place in the Tang Dynasty.

If Huang Chao could truly capture this place, whether it would bring benefits to the rebels or be a blow to the entire court, it would be worth the risk.

The fifth year of the Qianfu era, the third month.

Huang Chao's army attacked Bian and Song prefectures, ostensibly to launch an attack, but in reality to prepare for the subsequent crossing of the Yangtze River.

No one in the imperial court realized Huang Chao's true intentions.

It's not that they lack ability.

However, these people seemed to have never thought highly of Huang Chao, and never believed that he had any talent as a commander.

To put it bluntly, it is still the sin of arrogance.

Even though Huang Chao's power and reputation are growing stronger, his background is still not taken seriously by these people.

Huang Chao was exploiting these people's mentality.

While engaging the Tang army, the rebels first feigned setbacks, and then took advantage of the shift in battle to secretly cross the Yangtze River.

Within a few months, they successively captured the prefectures of Qian, Ji, Rao, and Xin.

Faced with this sudden offensive, the Jiangnan region was almost completely unprepared and was swept and ravaged by Huang Chao's army in an instant.

Actually, you can't blame others for this.

However, the power struggles in the imperial court have not yet completely ceased.

Human selfishness is like this once it arises; it is an endless struggle from beginning to end.

Some people falsify military intelligence to gain military merit, while others lie about the war situation to eliminate political enemies.

All of this is affecting the overall situation on the battlefield.

Even so, no one could stop them.

Nobody is a fool.

The fact that these people did these things at this time is simply a matter of luck.

Whether the Tang Dynasty ship would sink or not was simply not within their consideration.

This incident dealt a severe blow to the entire Tang Dynasty.

—In fact, the various systems of the Tang Dynasty were already completely rotten, and only the most crucial maritime trade still had a sliver of hope for salvation. This was not because these people were giving up.

It's simply because maritime trade involves far too many things.

Moreover, they understood how devastating it would be for the Tang Dynasty if maritime trade were affected, especially since this matter was a money-making opportunity for everyone.

No one would let it rot completely.

But now, the situation has changed dramatically.

The Huang Chao Rebellion severely damaged the entire maritime trade system. Coupled with the corruption of officials and the rise of pirates in recent years, the last balance of maritime trade in Jiangnan was completely broken under all kinds of erosion.

What followed was a continuous influx of migrants.

And this will ultimately become the final straw that breaks the back of the Tang Dynasty.

The problem of displaced people has always been the most intractable problem for any feudal dynasty, let alone the Tang Dynasty, which was already on the verge of collapse at this time.

Huang Chao would never miss any opportunity to expand his influence.

His sweeping victory in Jiangnan greatly increased his strength.

The court's mishandling of the situation gave him an opportunity.

—The world was finally thrown into complete chaos.

If the previous turmoil had not yet made people realize that the Tang Dynasty was coming to an end, then with the retirement of the Gu family and the collapse of maritime trade, people finally truly felt that the times had completely changed.

The people can no longer survive.

They were left with only one path, just as Huang Chao had proclaimed—to overthrow this merciless heaven.

December of the same year.

Huang Chao once again led his army into Fuzhou, aiming his sword at Lingnan.

He seems to have grasped the core of this matter and is speeding toward another vital part of the Tang Dynasty.

Panyu is no longer the core area of ​​Lingnan.

Instead, it was the new city that Gu Yi had established for the entire Lingnan region when he was in control of Gu Ye, which is now the Guangzhou Protectorate.

Panyu Port remains prosperous.

However, due to its geographical location, Guangzhou naturally entered a period of rapid development when maritime trade was vigorously developed, especially when Gu Jing expanded the new city in the past.

All of these factors have contributed to Guangzhou's current status.

Unlike his previous rampage in Jiangnan, Li Tiao, the Protector-General of Guangzhou, had already made preparations after scouting the enemy's situation.

But that's how the Tang Dynasty is now—

Even though the local areas were determined to resist, the central government's support was consistently insufficient.

Not to mention the distance and difficulty, the successive uprisings of rebel armies from all directions greatly helped Huang Chao tie down the central government's forces.

As time goes by...

No matter how stable Lingnan is, it will never be able to stop this overwhelming trend.

October of the sixth year of the Qianfu era.

Huang Chao attacked and captured Guangzhou, taking the military governor Li Tiao prisoner.

And as usual, he was beheaded in front of the army.

Besides--

The aristocratic families of Lingnan, and even the big-nosed merchants who colluded with officials, suffered a bloody purge by Huang Chao, including believers of various religious sects.

He vented his anger in this way.

This will also bring him immense prestige.

Because the people who followed him in the rebellion also harbored far too much anger towards these people.

Even Gu Yi found it difficult to estimate how many people Huang Chao had killed along the way.

It is worth mentioning that during this period, Huang Chao visited the Gu family lineage in Lingnan and once again offered sacrifices to the Gu family's ancestors.

This move not only won him a great deal of popular support.

During this period, Huang Chao did not demonstrate his attitude towards the Gu family at all.

He knew that there were definitely members of the Gu family hiding their identities to obstruct him, but he was also open about it.

Even when talking with the head of the Lingnan lineage, he never felt that he had done anything wrong.

He's about to forge a completely new path.

The news kept spreading.

Perhaps it is because the world is already too chaotic, this matter has not even had a great impact. The court has completely collapsed and can no longer care about such things.

This is one of the consequences of power struggles.

When the central authority fails to demonstrate its strength, the four surrounding entities will gradually break free from its control, leading to a de facto power struggle.

This was already evident at the end of the Han Dynasty.

Whether it was during the Eastern Han Dynasty or the end of the Han Dynasty.

And now——

It's just that all of this is happening in a different form.

The atrocities Huang Chao committed along the way destined him to have no allies, and every faction would do everything in its power to stop him.

December of the same year.

Huang Chao officially proclaimed himself king in Guangzhou, listed the "crimes of the Tang Dynasty" and announced his northern expedition to the world.

It differs from the original historical record in many ways.

Perhaps due to the changes in his upbringing and the emergence of Gu's scholarship, Huang Chao did not deliberately divide the enemy camp as he did in the original history.

He was determined to take on the entire world.

Just like what Gu Xi did in the past, except that he would be more radical and completely destroy all aristocratic politics.

One stone caused a thousand waves!

It wasn't because of Huang Chao's proclamation.

Rather, his act of declaring himself king was incredibly good news for the rebels throughout the land and for the powerful families who were gradually developing a desire for separatism.

—Someone finally took this step.

And this also illuminated the way for all of them.

Fighting for that final throne!

The entire world was thrown into complete chaos.

Gu Yi had been silently observing all of this, his own feelings equally complex and difficult to understand.

History has indeed changed a lot.

At least for now.

It seems unlikely that the Tang Dynasty will escape this calamity.

There are many reasons for this, but the most crucial one is the increase in population, which led to a chaos that far exceeded the original historical record.

All of this is clearly a historical inevitability.

This is precisely what makes Gu Yi's feelings complicated.

The population growth of Kyushu could not possibly stagnate. With the continuous development of the Gu family and the resulting increase in productivity, the population of Kyushu as a whole could never be lower than in the original history.

But if we follow this situation...

How did the major calamities of later generations evolve into?
Perhaps it was because he had witnessed firsthand how much effort the Gu family had poured into this land generation after generation that even Gu Yi, with his broad-mindedness, could not help but feel a surge of indescribable emotions.

This is not being pretentious, but rather reflecting on the future of the Gu family.

Ultimately, the Gu family could not possibly avoid every catastrophe.

Even with the precedent of the Confucius family bowing down to survive, the Gu family would never follow this path.

This is a choice made by generations of Gu family ancestors.

The very basis for the Gu family's existence was incompatible with this.

Those ancestors set the tone for the Gu family, and Gu Yi, who now bears all their expectations, will not lose the family's integrity.

But when the wheels of history rolled over the Gu family.

What exactly does the Gu family want from their generals?

This is what Gu Yi is thinking about.

It's obvious that there are some things he cannot avoid, whether for the sake of the people of the land or for the sake of the Gu family.
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(End of this chapter)