Taiping Dao at the end of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 47 The imperial edict from Luoyang has finally arrived!
The long snowy night passed, and the sun rose as usual. The clear, white sun shone brightly, and even the distant burial mounds in the fields were covered with a layer of soft snow, blurring the line between life and death. In this era before Buddhist temples appeared in the countryside, the incense smoke rising from the shrines was a prayer to communicate between life and death.

"Heaven above, the Eastern Peak Emperor in the East, may next year bring no war, no plague. May the fields be bountiful, the granaries full, and every family well-fed. May the Way prevail in the fields, and all living beings find peace. May peace reign on earth, for Heaven's will is truly clear..."

In the Dongyue Tianqi Temple, devout prayers resounded. Led by two great physicians, a group of disciples, leaders, and followers knelt in the main hall, praying to the Yellow Heaven Divine Tablet and the Dongyue Emperor.

Today's ancestral worship is on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, known as "Little New Year," which is equivalent to the later Little New Year. The twelfth lunar month is the end of the year, and ancestral worship is most frequent during this time, with three main rituals. The first is the "Laba Festival," celebrating the agricultural harvest and praying for blessings for production. The second is "Little New Year," primarily involving worshipping the Kitchen God and offering sacrifices to the fire. Finally, there is "New Year's Eve," celebrating the end of the year.

The calendar used at this time was the "Later Han Dynasty Four-Part Calendar," which clearly measured that "a year's remainder is one-quarter of a day," hence "19 lunar years have 7 intercalary months." The precision of this agricultural calendar was among the best in the world!
"Worship the fire basin! May the weather be favorable! May there be peace!..."

After everyone finished offering sacrifices to the Little New Year and bowed to the fire basin, it was time to offer wine and drink.

The *Simin Yueling* states, "The day after the New Year is called Little New Year. People offer wine to their elders and pay respects to their teachers and elders." Therefore, during Little New Year's celebrations, there is a tradition of disciples offering wine to their teachers and elders. At this moment, standing at the head of the temple to receive these offerings are naturally the Great Teacher Zhang Jiao and the Heavenly Physician Zhang Bao.

"I wish to become a disciple of a wise teacher!..."

Zhang Chengfu stood at the front of his disciples, with the chieftains of Qingzhou and Yanzhou in the other row. Then, everyone bowed in greeting, raised their wine bowls, and drank them down in one gulp. The mellow Qi wine was smooth and easy to swallow, rich but not astringent, with a slightly sweet aftertaste. This homemade wine brought by the chieftains of Qingzhou was for this very moment.

In contrast to the severely affected rural areas of Yanzhou, the rural areas of Qingzhou even had surplus grain for brewing, clearly unaffected by this year's drought. The Taishan Mountains divide Shandong into eastern and western parts; this single mountain range represents a life-or-death difference between having rain and not having rain!

"Toast! Drink! Toast again! Drink again!..."

"May there be peace!..."

The two physicians each drank a small bowl, while their disciples drank two. The spirited chieftains, however, had already finished three or four bowls. After everyone had finished their drinks, they took their seats again in the main hall, and the discussion returned to the unfinished topic of the situation in Yanzhou.

“Zhonghu, you are in charge of spreading the word in Dongping Kingdom, so you can tell us about the situation in this area.”

Zhang Chengfu looked up at the sound and saw a burly man with a face as black as charcoal and arms thicker than an average person's. He was none other than Cui Zhonghu, the chieftain of Dongping Kingdom.

"Yes, my wise teacher!"

Commander Cui Zhonghu grinned, displaying a forthright personality and speaking very frankly.

"Dongping Kingdom is very small. It borders Dayeze to the west, Jibei Kingdom to the east, and the even smaller Rencheng Kingdom to the south. My followers are all located on both banks of the Wen River, totaling only eight or nine thousand, maybe ten thousand people. If we were to raise an army, we could probably only muster about a thousand people."

"And in this Dongping Kingdom, the largest and most famous family is definitely the Shou Zhang Zhang family! The Shou Zhang Zhang family owns 20,000 to 30,000 mu of land. They are not only a prestigious family, but also have many wandering knights. They are uniquely powerful in this Dongping Kingdom! And Shou Zhang County is located at the mouth of the Wen River and the Daye Marsh. According to what Master Xian said before, we must take it!"

"But the head of the Zhang family is quite something! He's probably in his thirties or forties, and he doesn't hold any official position. He's one of the 'Eight Cooks' of the partisan faction, imprisoned under the Party Prohibitions. He excels in both literature and martial arts, and his reputation is widespread among the gentry. He's known as 'Zhang Mengzhuo, the Strict and Respectful Man of the Land'... Yes! His name is Zhang Mengzhuo, Zhang Miao!..."

"Zhang Miao is currently in Dongping Kingdom. If he weren't imprisoned by the emperor, with his reputation, he would definitely be a high-ranking official, a prefect! As for the powerful clans around him, the Bi and Lü families of Dongping, they all listen to the call of this aristocratic Zhang family. Even in the southern kingdom of Rencheng, the powerful Lü family of Rencheng is close to Zhang Miao. He's a very influential figure who can command a large following!..."

At this point, Commander Cui Zhonghu paused, glanced at the chief physicians at the head of the table, then looked at Zhang Chengfu, and spoke frankly.

"To be honest, with the strength of the Yellow Turbans in my Dongping Kingdom, if they were to rise up and gather a thousand or eight hundred able-bodied men, they probably couldn't even defeat the few hundred clan members and wandering knights gathered by the Zhang family. Moreover, the county constables, constables, and soldiers in this prefecture and kingdom also number two or three hundred..."

"To control the Wen River in Dongping Kingdom, we need a chieftain from outside to bring in a large army. And this Zhang family of Shouzhang, especially the highly renowned Zhang Miao, is our biggest obstacle!..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengfu rubbed his temples, seemingly lost in thought. At this point, it was very clear what obstacles would hinder their grand plan and what had to be eliminated in this planned base area of ​​Dayeze-Wenshui-Taishan.

Cheng Li of the Cheng family in Dong'e County, Dongjun, Li Qian of the Li family in Cheng County, Jiyin, and the Man family in Changyi County, Shanyang—these three families, which are hindering the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the southward advance in Dongjun, have already been identified as the first to be eliminated!

Then, the Zhang family of Shouzhang County in Dongping State, Zhang Miao; the Bao family of Liangfu County in Taishan Prefecture, Bao Xin; and the Wang family of Fenggao County in Taishan Prefecture, Wang Kuang—all three families were located on both banks of the Wen River. To control the area from Dayeze and the Wen River to Mount Tai, these three families had to be dealt with!
These three families of Wenshui are renowned and far more influential than the previous three, making them difficult to target. Perhaps assassination will be necessary, or we might have to find a way to use the Duan family's influence again!

Further out, there are Chen Gong of Dongwuyang County in Dongjun, and Liu Biao of Gaoping County in Shanyang County. These two top-tier aristocratic families have differing stances and will inevitably clash sooner or later after their uprising, especially the imperial Liu family. Moreover, these aristocratic families' estates hold vast amounts of stored grain; if they could be breached, tens of thousands more lives could be saved…

"Yanzhou is suppressed by powerful eunuchs. During the two periods of partisan persecution in Luoyang, these eunuchs unleashed a reign of terror, destroying the homes of two powerful clans. Yet, there are still so many powerful families here! I wonder how powerful those families are in the heart of Yuzhou, where powerful clans are concentrated?..."

Zhang Chengfu remained silent, deep in thought, as he stared directly at these powerful local families. These people were precisely the true enemies he needed to replace in his "path to the common people"!

The Great Teacher, who was at the head of the table, already knew the situation in Yanzhou, and asked again about the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou.

"Reporting to the Great and Wise Teacher! Our missionary work in Qingzhou is mainly concentrated in the western part of Qingzhou, in the four prefectures of Pingyuan, Jinan, Le'an, and Beihai. In these four populous prefectures, there are hundreds of thousands of believers in our Way of Great Peace! And in the south, the missionary work of the Way of Great Peace in Xuzhou is also progressing rapidly, with over ten thousand followers in the Langya and Donghai prefecture areas..."

Led by Zhang Rao, the chieftain of Qingzhou, and accompanied by four or five other chieftains from Qingzhou, they answered respectfully one by one. Then, when the Great Teacher Zhang Jiao inquired about the preparations for the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Qingzhou, Zhang Rao, the chieftain, hesitated.

"Great and wise teacher, we have something to say, but we don't know if we should."

"Heaven does not tolerate empty words, so speak freely!"

"promise!"

The elder chieftain Zhang Rao nodded emphatically, first bowing deeply before cautiously replying.

"Heaven bears witness! We, the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou... are not yet ready to rise up! If we were to raise an army, out of our hundreds of thousands of followers, perhaps only ten or twenty thousand would be willing to risk their lives to join us in this righteous uprising!..."

"Huh? Why?"

"Reporting to the wise master! Because the common people of Qingzhou can still survive for now! They haven't been forced to the point where they have no way to survive and have to rise up like they have in Yanzhou!" Chief Zhang Rao answered loudly. Then, he explained in detail, showing that he had a thorough understanding of the people's thoughts.

"The people of Qingzhou trust our Way of Peace for two reasons: first, we distribute talismanic water to cure the plague; second, with our unity, they can resist taxes and protect themselves! It's easy for us, the followers of the Way of Peace, to lead them in resisting taxes, but the current situation is not yet ripe for leading them in a desperate uprising..."

"The great epidemic in February this year did indeed occur in Qingzhou, and many people died. But in the following summer, Jizhou, Yanzhou, and Yuzhou all experienced droughts, while Qingzhou had almost none, nor did Xuzhou to the south. Qingzhou and Xuzhou are located by the sea and separated by Mount Tai, so they have always had enough rainfall. These two prefectures are not afraid of droughts, but they are most afraid of floods caused by the overflowing of rivers!"

"With sufficient rainfall, as long as there is no flooding, there will be a harvest. Even if there is less rainfall and wheat cannot be grown, millet can still be grown. The people of Qingxu are not yet at the point of no return, so we cannot gather them all together and raise the banner of rebellion!"

"If the common people cannot be mobilized, and only a few key figures rise up in rebellion, it will likely be easily suppressed by the government! We'll have to see if the situation changes in the next two years. Of course, as the wise teacher instructed, spreading the doctrine to the Laiwu region of Taishan Commandery will certainly not be a problem. In addition, Pingyuan Commandery, which borders Ji Province, is the only commandery in Qing Province that has suffered from drought; perhaps they can rise up in response!..."

After hearing the explanation from the Qingzhou chieftain, Zhang Chengfu frowned and remained silent in thought.

The missionary principle of the Way of Great Peace is "to encourage goodness and help the people," guiding them towards a way to survive. Since the people of Qingzhou can still live, they cannot be forced to rebel. The Way of Great Peace would never do what the peasant armies of the late Ming Dynasty did, destroying agricultural production and forcibly coercing the people into rebellion.

Ten years later, the simultaneous uprising of a million Yellow Turban rebels in Qingzhou and Xuzhou was also due to the chaotic infighting that followed Emperor Ling's death, which led to the massive destruction of water conservancy projects in Qingzhou and Xuzhou. Food supplies in Qingzhou and Xuzhou plummeted, compounded by the devastating floods of the Chuping era, leaving the people with no way to survive and ultimately forcing them to erupt in rebellion!

On this land of China, the common people are very resilient as long as they can survive. Only when they can no longer endure it will hundreds of thousands or even millions of ordinary people rise up in rebellion like a raging flood!

"Yes, Zhang Rao, I understand the situation you described. It is a good thing for the world that the people of Qingzhou can still live, and it is also a good thing for our Taiping Dao!"

The Grand Master of the Court looked down for a long time before smiling and nodding, tacitly agreeing with the Qingzhou chieftains' statement.

"Yanzhou will suffer from drought again next year. You should gather more grain in Qingzhou and find a way to transport some to Yanzhou! The commander of Xuzhou in the south, although he couldn't come this time, has the same request."

"The world has lost its virtue, and successive disasters and plagues are breaking out; it will not stop so easily. When you preach in the villages, you must stop the people from brewing wine and encourage them to store up more grain for a rainy day! Even worse years are probably yet to come."

"Yes! I will follow your wise teacher's instructions!"

"Alright, that's settled then! Now, each of you come forward one by one and talk about the problems you've encountered while preaching in your respective counties..."

In the following days, the grand meeting of the chief physicians turned into smaller, more intimate gatherings. This provided opportunities for the chiefs from different regions to connect, build rapport, and get to know each other.

"Talisman Master, I'm going to Juping to recruit the Mount Tai Warriors for you. I'll be back soon!"

Hou Sheng, the chieftain of Jibei Kingdom, along with several disciples and silver coins worth four hundred strings of cash, rode away ahead of time to recruit Yu Jin and the wandering knights of Mount Tai for Zhang Chengfu.

Zhang Chengfu also got to know and chat with the chieftains, learned about the rural conditions in Qing and Yan provinces, and even showed off his archery skills, shooting a halberd from forty paces away! The chieftains were stunned, and their evaluation of him finally changed from "that kid" to "that boy who can shoot arrows".

Prestige is built up slowly, and relationships are cultivated gradually. And so, after several days, finally, on the evening of the two days before New Year's Eve, a fast horse arrived!

The man who appeared on horseback was burly and wore a thick linen robe and a leather hat. He was a skilled rider and wandered suspiciously around the Tianqi Temple where the great physician and the chieftains were gathered. Suddenly, sixty or seventy burly men, his disciples, poured out of the temple, surrounded him on horseback, and captured him in no time!

"Hey! Who are you?"

"Ah! Heaven above! I am also a follower of the Way of Peace! I am Sang Ping, the Assistant Clerk of Dong'e County, a follower of the Way of Peace in Dong'e County!"

The newcomer was captured from his horse by Gao Daonu, who removed his hat, revealing a weathered face of a man in his thirties or forties, wearing a yellow turban. The so-called "Chengshi" was an assistant to the county magistrate, often a close confidant. Gao Daonu looked at the yellow turban on Sang Ping's head, then at the old official's face, and asked...

"The Chancellor of Dong'e? Wang Du is your superior?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Magistrate Wang sent me! I will treat him as my elder brother!"

What urgent matter brings you here?

"I've come to find Young Master Zhang, to seek a great and virtuous teacher!...Yes! This matter is of utmost importance; I can only speak to you after meeting Young Master Zhang!"

Chengshi Sangping looked anxious, yet also showed a hint of barely concealed excitement. When Zhang Chengfu hurried over, he sized up the old official from Dong'e County before speaking in a deep voice.

"The king sent you here, does it mean that the scheme at the Ōnosawa border has come to a conclusion?"

Chengshi Sangping carefully examined the young man, especially his calm eyes, which matched Wang Du's description. Only then did he respectfully step forward and excitedly whisper.

"Reporting to you, sir... Magistrate Wang sent someone here to discuss this very matter! Two days ago, the Duan family's messenger arrived in Dong'e, but instead of seeking out the county magistrate, he went to see Magistrate Wang first."

"The Duan family has obtained an imperial edict from Luoyang, personally approved by Prefect Duan of Luoyang! The evidence against the Cheng family of Dong'e is clear, and they are utterly wicked! The Prefect is ordered to mobilize the prefectural troops to arrest them, regardless of whether they live or die!"

"The Duan family was worried that word would get out and the local tyrant would escape, so they notified Magistrate Wang in advance to prepare manpower to cooperate! On New Year's Eve, when the Cheng family's legitimate and illegitimate children reunite... they would break down the door and wipe out the family, capturing them in one fell swoop, and not allowing any potential threat to escape!"

"The Duan family also promised that if the Cheng family could be eliminated, the current magistrate of Dong'e County would be relieved of his post and replaced by Magistrate Wang! And Magistrate Wang, for the sake of stability, asked me to come and invite you, sir, to bring some men to help block the Cheng family's escape route!..."

"?! This imperial edict from Luoyang has finally arrived!"

Hearing Duan Shi's murderous words, Zhang Cheng smiled, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. He immediately rushed back to the temple to consult his master, Zhang Jiao. Then, just an hour later, a dozen riders galloped out of the Tianqi Temple, all carrying iron swords and iron staffs, ready for battle!
As dusk settled amidst the snow, a knight in a straw raincoat rode his horse, its hooves lightly pounding the snow, a palpable sense of menace hanging in the air. The last rays of the setting sun cast their light upon the western plains. Dong'e County lay just eighty li to the west, a journey of two days by fast horse.

As the horse gallops by, the setting sun bleeds like blood, and the north wind blows cold. A sun, yet to rise, is about to set.
(End of this chapter)