He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Chapter 120 The Eastern Han Dynasty Version of the Luddite Movement

Cao Cao's spies suffered heavy losses for this reason. All three sides were somewhat bloodthirsty. For a spy to survive, he either had to live in a fixed area controlled by one side or make all three sides consider him one of their own.

It's just too difficult.

At this point, Cao Cao was starting to have second thoughts. The local people were acting strangely, constantly killing each other. If he were to take over this land, wouldn't these people corrupt all the good people in his area?

No, no, such a good thing should be enjoyed by the straw sandal seller. I, Cao Cao, am not fortunate enough to have it.

The formation of the Black Turban Army was clearly unexpected. The powerful families, who had initially thought themselves the heroes who would defeat the Yellow Turban Army, began to withdraw their defenses. Without understanding the attitude of the new side, the families preferred to play it safe. They also began to investigate the situation of these people and what they wanted to do.

The Yellow Turban Army also took this opportunity to recuperate and consolidate their rural base. They didn't think much about the emergence of the Black Turban Army; they figured it would just mean more heads would be chopped off, but it wouldn't affect anything too much.

The situation has finally stabilized.

?

Black Turban Army, Wan County.

This was the center of handicrafts in Lujiang County, and the second largest city after Shuxian County. It was precisely for these reasons that when the artisans here revolted, their strength was the strongest among the many Black Turban rebel armies.

After a day of patrolling, two black market soldiers started chatting: "Why did you join the army? I remember you were an apprentice to a blacksmith before?"

The man shook his head, a hint of reminiscence in his expression: "Don't even mention it. Those people from Xuzhou bring so much ironware over every day, how can our shop possibly have any business? My master hasn't had a sale in months, all his children starved to death, and his wife couldn't take it anymore and hanged herself. My master went mad too."

"He is my master, I can't just abandon him. So I searched everywhere and did anything for a little food, but it seemed like the whole Han Dynasty had run out of food. If it weren't for the uprising, my master and I would have starved to death."

As he spoke, his emotions flared, and he slammed his fist on the ground: "Damn it, it's all those Xuzhou people's fault! If they hadn't bought up all the grain, we wouldn't even be able to afford to eat!"

"That's right, those bastards slashed prices to the ground in order to sell more of their goods." At this moment, another person who was listening to the gossip also chimed in.

"A bolt of silk! Selling for only a thousand coins, can you believe it? These people are really not leaving any way for us silk makers to make a living!"

"That's right, our workshop can't keep going either. Sigh, I really don't know how we're going to survive."

Gradually, the chat turned into a venting session, where everyone had their own painful stories to tell, and after sharing their grievances, everyone's emotions became even more indignant.

Finally, the blacksmith's apprentice stood up and said in a deafening voice, "It's all those Xuzhou people's fault! Let's just kill them all and stop them from harming people!"

"That's right!"

Count me in!

As they talked, everyone's passion was stirred up, and their long-standing sorrows and dissatisfaction were ignited into a raging fire, determined to burn the enemy to ashes.

Soon, these indignant people found their superiors and said that now that an army had been formed, they should take this opportunity to kill all the Xuzhou merchants who had harmed them.

Ji Lang was originally the local city defense captain. On the night of the citizens' uprising, he was sleeping at home. After hearing the commotion on the street, he hid under the bed, fearing that he would be dragged by the people to be sacrificed to the flag.

However, he was really unlucky. These people were determined to make him the commander of the troops, and they wouldn't leave his house until they found him.

The main problem was that these citizens didn't stop in time during the uprising, killing a bunch of officers and officials in a few strokes. After calming down, they realized that it was difficult to find someone who could take charge. In the end, they chose the best among the worst and found Ji Lang.

When they dragged Ji Lang out from under the bed, he thought he was going to be killed next, and kept yelling, "Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!"

After the misunderstanding was cleared up, they put him in charge of commanding the battle.

Hearing this petition, Ji Lang was somewhat worried. He didn't know what others would think if he continued like this, but he would definitely be blacklisted by the people of Xuzhou. However, looking at the pairs of eyes staring at him around him, he knew that he didn't actually have the ability to refuse.

He was nominally the military commander, but in reality he only had the authority to make suggestions; the others still listened to those who led the uprising.

Ji Lang readily agreed and let them do it: "Fine, go ahead. I've had my eye on them for a long time."

After seeing off his "subordinates," he sighed and prepared to close the door to rest. Suddenly, something important came to mind, which startled him and made him break out in a cold sweat. He immediately rushed out to chase after the soldiers who were causing trouble for the Xuzhou merchants.

The reason he was so flustered was that there were no Xuzhou merchants in Wan County at the moment.

The merchants of Xuzhou were extremely afraid of death. If there was any danger and they lacked armed protection, they would rather lose all their goods and let the bandits take them than put up a fight.

Even if the goods and money are gone, as long as the losses aren't too great, they can quickly earn it back through business. To risk their lives for a little bit of goods at this time is simply irrational.

This is understandable; it's a perfectly normal principle of compromise for those who are happy.

Only those who are desperate will do something so reckless; it's much harder for someone with a family and a career to do so.

This road is blocked? Then I'll take another one.

Therefore, long before the Black Turban Army was even established, most of the merchants in Xuzhou had already fled. Moreover, to avoid attracting attention, they specifically fled at night. First, the people ran away, and then a day later, they transported the important goods out and ran away as well.

As for why Ji Lang knew so much, it was because these people bribed him, which is why he ordered the guards to let them through.

after a while.

The Black Turban Army ransacked the city, but couldn't find a single Xuzhou merchant still inside.

This feeling of powerlessness, like punching cotton, left everyone feeling extremely frustrated. The blacksmith apprentice in the lead threw his bag on the ground and cursed, "Damn it, did these bastards burrow underground? We can't find them anywhere."

"It would be strange if we could find them. I told you long ago, those people all ran away when things first started to get chaotic in Lujiang. The ones left here are all their agents." Ji Lang, who was panting heavily from chasing, finally emerged from the crowd and answered the man's question.

"Why didn't General Ji mention something so important sooner?"

"I told you, I've been saying it the whole way, but none of you listened to me." Ji Lang also felt a little wronged. It was one thing for no one to pay attention to him the whole way, but now that there was a problem, they came to bother him.

If I had known this day would come, I should have hidden somewhere else and never come out.

The group stood silently for a long time, holding torches. Suddenly, a voice emerged from the crowd: "What do we do then? Just go home like this?"

"No, we can't just let it go like this. Even though they escaped, there are still some who are still here!"

"Huh?" Ji Lang was stunned when he heard this. This meant that bloodshed had to happen tonight.

"Even though the people from Xuzhou have fled, there are still so many middlemen in Wan County! They're colluding with the people from Xuzhou; they're no good either!"

"Those scoundrels may have escaped, but these people will have to pay the price for their crimes!"

The crowd, already seething with anger and frustrated, had no objection to expanding the scope of the crackdown, unanimously agreeing, "That's right, find them!"

The crowd immediately scattered and started kicking doors everywhere, dragging the merchants off their beds and throwing them into the street.

At first, people would go through the motions of announcing what crime the person had committed and how they should be executed. But after a while, they got tired of talking and lost the patience to continue, so they just disposed of them all at once.

In an instant, blood gushed out across the streets of Wan County. The dead fell into endless darkness, and the living could only hang their heads and await their death.

After these merchants were executed, their entire fortunes were distributed.

Money and grain were easy to handle; everyone could simply share some. The problem was that these merchants also possessed many goods from Xuzhou, which was considered helping the people of Xuzhou bleed the common people—a charge the Black Turban Army frequently used to execute merchants. Therefore, despite the exquisite quality of the books and paper from Xuzhou, they couldn't easily take them away.

"Let's just burn it," the weaver, who once owned several looms, suggested after some thought.

"It's because of these things that our lives are getting worse every day. If we eliminate all these bad things and return to our original lives, we'll never go hungry like we do today again!"

"Huh?" "Huh?"

Not everyone agrees with this idea. Some people feel heartbroken that such good things are burned to ashes, which is such a waste. Even if they don't need them, they can exchange them for other supplies.

Some people worry that this huge pile of goods is definitely beyond the financial means of these merchants; powerful families and influential clans must have a stake in it, and some might even be the merchants' financial backers. If this fire goes off, they'll suddenly have a whole host of enemies.

The group that led the "Crystal Night" protested this idea. They were the ones who led everyone against the people of Xuzhou, and now they were breaking their promise for some benefit. Wasn't that the same as saying that they were also the lackeys of the people of Xuzhou?

"Why do you have these ideas of compromise? We've eliminated these unscrupulous merchants to save everyone from suffering, and now you're saying you want to keep these harmful things around?"

"You actually feel sorry for these things? Could it be that you're spies planted by the people of Xuzhou?!"

Once such words are uttered, no one dares to offer any advice. Once something reaches a certain level, right and wrong become less important.

Soon, these books, which recorded the thoughts of the sages, curled up and turned black in the flames, eventually turning into white ashes.

The crowd cheered loudly and dispersed. They had defeated the evil creature from Xuzhou, and their lives would slowly get better again.

These people are also pitiful. They don't understand that their impoverished lives are the result of a complex interplay of multiple factors. They only know that these things have drastically changed their lives, leaving them jobless, without income, and causing the elderly to starve and the young to wander.

Burning these things not only failed to alleviate their food shortage crisis, but also ultimately drew the ire of one of the most powerful groups at the time:

A prestigious family!

Wubao, a rural village surrounding Wan County, is my home.

My name is Zhang Sheng. I was bought by my master to be a servant when I was young. Although my master always beat and scolded me for the slightest mistake, at least I didn't have to go hungry, and by serving the young master, I even learned a few words. From then on...

After that, I rarely interacted with ordinary people. Now that I am literate, I cannot easily lower myself.

They're so pathetic. If they have nothing to eat, can't they find a good employer to work for? I've talked to them, and they said they used to own land, but due to natural disasters and man-made calamities, they couldn't make a living and had to sell it to survive.

I don't say anything on the surface, but I actually look down on these people. They can't survive even a little natural disaster? We have so much land, and it's much more troublesome for us to manage than for them. How come we don't have trouble surviving?

In the end, they're just a bunch of lazybones; they deserve to go hungry.

But the atmosphere in town was strange today; not a single shop was open on the street. I didn't pay much attention and walked towards our family's shop with my head down. Today was inventory day, and the head of the household specifically instructed me to check carefully to make sure that all the goods received were made in Xuzhou, as the counterfeit goods from Hebei and Jiangdong were far inferior to those from Xuzhou.

It's quite normal that the head of the family values ​​this matter so much; he invested all the money his family had saved over generations into it and made a fortune. I was incredibly envious watching from the sidelines. No wonder he's the head of the family; his foresight is something ordinary people can't learn.

I walked to my shop, and the person in charge hadn't even opened it yet. That was really strange. The shopkeeper was usually very diligent. Could he be sick?

After standing at the entrance for a while, I had no choice but to ask people nearby if they had seen the merchants here. What they told me shocked me so much that I couldn't even speak.