Diqin Designer

Chapter 306: The End of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yellow Turban Rebellion

Hearing what the First Emperor said, Li Nian felt a strange sense of joy in his heart, because the First Emperor had also done the "selling of official positions and titles" in history, and it was said that it was the First Emperor who set the precedent.

Now when Qin Shi Huang commented on Liu Hong’s selling of official positions and titles, there is a kind of humor of a crow laughing at a pig. Of course, Qin Shi Huang’s selling of official positions and titles was different from that of Liu Hong.

Noticing Li Nian's strange expression, the First Emperor didn't understand at all. He asked, "Why, did the I in history that you know of also do this?"

But in order to make amends for his other historical self, and also out of self-confidence, the First Emperor added: "He must have had a serious reason for selling the official position!"

Who sells official positions and titles for no reason?
Li Nian said: "As far as I know, the emperor in history did sell official positions and titles, and was considered to have set a precedent for selling official positions, which was followed by later dynasties."

After hearing this, the First Emperor was quite speechless. He felt that this group of people must have wanted to sell official positions and titles themselves, and then dragged the Qin Emperor out to take the blame. If the Qin Emperor had not set a precedent, would these guys not have sold official positions and titles?
He could guess what those kings were thinking: We are not the first to sell official positions and titles. Qin Shihuang had already done it. We are just imitating him. The root cause is that Qin Shihuang started this bad precedent.

"But the emperor sold the positions and titles for disaster relief, and ordered that 'the common people pay 1,000 dan of grain and be awarded one level of title', which restricted the sale of positions. But Liu Hong is different!"

Hearing this, the First Emperor felt relieved instantly: I knew that the other me must have a serious reason for selling official positions and titles, and it is different from that of Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong.

"He was very ruthless in selling official positions, with clear prices. He not only sold county magistrates, but also dukes and ministers. The father of the later Emperor Wu of Wei bought a duke position in this way."

Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong, was truly a talented person. Ministers were important figures in the country, holding high positions and great power, almost the highest power under the emperor. Yet, Liu Hong sold them to others at this price?
On the other hand, Emperor Wu of Wei should be related to the "Wei" in the historical dynasty rhyme "Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu". He must be a remarkable figure to be specifically mentioned by Li Nian.

Li Nian continued, "By selling official positions and titles, Liu Hong amassed a lot of wealth, and the eunuchs close to him also made a lot of money. This was Liu Hong's second mistake. He favored the eunuchs, the Ten Attendants, and made them the biggest corrupt officials in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Even the generals who led troops to fight outside had to bribe them in order to report their military exploits to the court."

"It is not enough for a general to be able to lead troops in battle and have military achievements. He also needs someone in the court to speak for him and have his military capabilities reported. The Ten Eunuchs are close to Liu Hong, so they are naturally the best candidates for speaking."

"If you don't bribe the Ten Eunuchs or their subordinates, even if you have great military achievements, they will not be known to the court, and you will not be valued by the court."

This made Meng Tian laugh. What kind of imperial court is this? It's too corrupt. Generals are fighting desperately, but they still have to bribe these eunuchs? If they don't bribe, no matter how great their military achievements are, they can't be counted!
Meng Tian said: "If we do this, the Eastern Han Dynasty will not fall, it is against the will of heaven!"

Li Nian nodded and said, "From a historical perspective, the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty was inevitable, but there were also reasons why Liu Hong favored eunuchs. Liu Hong did not ascend the throne as a crown prince, and he was not very old when he ascended the throne. He had a weak foundation in the court and the palace, and did not have enough confidants."

"And the harem, relatives of the emperor, and court officials were not good for becoming Liu Hong's confidants. The harm of the harem and relatives of the emperor is self-evident. The court officials at that time were also not good people. Most of them came from aristocratic families, valued reputation and liked to talk. In their hearts, their family was more important than the court and the king."

"These people always talk about the world and the people, and often criticize and advise the king from the perspective of morality, but few of them really want to do things for the king and the world. In fact, they are only doing it for their own benefit."

"It is naturally difficult for Liu Hong to trust such people. Excluding these types of people, eunuchs become more suitable candidates, and there are many advantages to choosing eunuchs:"

"Eunuchs are of low status, so it is not easy for them to join forces with other types of people. The power of eunuchs depends entirely on the favor of the king. If the king no longer trusts them, they will lose power overnight. If they want to consolidate their power, they can only try their best to please the king. Eunuchs cannot have children, so even if they are extremely powerful, their power will only last during their lifetime and cannot be passed on to their descendants..."

"Of course, eunuchs also have shortcomings. One of the most common and major shortcomings is their greed for money. However, compared with the benefits of employing eunuchs, this shortcoming can be ignored by many kings: What's wrong with being a little greedy? How much more greedy can you be? Even if you do take a lot, you can find a reason to get it back in your hands in the future."

The First Emperor frowned. He found that the eunuchs' interference in politics was indeed a difficult problem to solve. Even if a king like him would not have the problem of eunuchs' interference in politics, what about the future kings of the Qin Dynasty?
Eunuchs are really useful, that is why they are used. As long as the future kings of the Qin Dynasty are not stupid, they will definitely find that eunuchs are useful, and then eunuchs may interfere in politics.

The First Emperor asked, "Is there a solution to the harm caused by eunuchs?"

Li Nian shook his head and said, "As long as eunuchs exist, there is no proper solution. We can only set up rules to prevent them, but it is difficult to eradicate them."

The real root of the eunuch problem lies in power. Only when power does not need eunuchs, there will naturally be no eunuch problem. In other words, only when the power that requires eunuchs disappears can the eunuch problem be solved.

The First Emperor also realized this, so he did not ask any more questions. Li Nian continued, "Under Liu Hong's favor, the Ten Eunuchs have great power."

"While helping Liu Hong to sell official positions and enjoy himself, they also imposed heavy taxes and oppressed the people, causing widespread resentment among the people. Later, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, endangering the Eastern Han Dynasty. Some people believed that the Yellow Turban Rebellion was caused by the monopoly of power by the eunuchs."

"But the person who said this is obviously biased. He did not mention the aristocratic families and powerful people in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The power of the eunuchs and relatives was indeed the cause of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but the aristocratic families and powerful people are also responsible. I have already told your majesty about the harm of the powerful people before, so I will not repeat it here. Your majesty only needs to know that in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the power of the aristocratic families and powerful people was greater than that in the late Western Han Dynasty."

"The Yellow Turban Rebellion was a large-scale uprising led by Zhang Jue. Zhang Jue was a native of Julu, Jizhou. He was the leader of the Taiping Dao and the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He called himself the Great Sage and Good Teacher and the Heavenly General."

After listening to Li Nian talking about Zhang Jue, the First Emperor and his two companions suddenly became very interested. This was the person who made later generations add "I, Zhang Jue, ask the Han people to die with me!" to his words.

Although this sentence was added by later generations, Zhang Jue dared to launch an uprising in the Eastern Han Dynasty and said no to the Eastern Han Dynasty, which made him truly a remarkable figure.

"The Taiping Dao believes in Huangdi and Laozi, so it is often considered a sect of Taoism. Zhang Jue believed that the era of Huangdi was the most peaceful and beautiful era."

"In that era, there was no hunger, cold, disaster, or disease, no fraud or theft, and no oppression by the powerful. Zhang Jue longed for the era of the Yellow Emperor, which is probably why he proposed 'the blue sky is dead, the yellow sky should be established'."

"And the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was indeed not a good era. There were disasters on the top, which made it difficult for the fields to harvest. On the bottom, the emperor was absurd, the government was corrupt, the eunuchs, relatives, and court officials were fighting endlessly, and the powerful families were causing trouble in the local area. Speaking of it, the Eastern Han Dynasty was also unlucky. Since Deng Sui, disasters have been frequent!"

However, even though disasters were frequent in the middle and late periods, the Eastern Han Dynasty managed to hold on for a long time before its collapse, which was quite remarkable.

"Under these factors, people naturally had a hard time living. At this time, Zhang Jue began to promote his Taiping Dao and spread his idea of ​​'bringing peace'. He used magic water to save the world." "This was seen as an ignorant and superstitious act in later generations, but in desperate situations, even a bowl of magic water was a luxury for some people. The magic water could not cure diseases or relieve hunger, but in that environment it made people feel a little warmth and kindness and saw hope."

"Thanks to Zhang Jue's efforts, over the past decade, the number of Taiping Dao followers has expanded to hundreds of thousands, spreading all over the world."

Meng Tian was surprised and asked: "With so many people, didn't the Eastern Han court notice it?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "Of course we discovered something, but the government of the Eastern Han Dynasty was in chaos and the bureaucracy was corrupt, and Zhang Jue and others also responded. Some local officials even thought that Zhang Jue's preaching was good and could appease the people. Officials who discovered the hidden dangers either dared not speak out or were unwilling to speak out, and those who dared to speak out could not convey it to the central court."

"Under such circumstances, Zhang Jue was forced to preach for more than ten years, but was not taken seriously by the Eastern Han court."

Meng Tian sighed again: "The political situation is so chaotic and corrupt, it is destined to perish!" The Eastern Han Dynasty must have been destroyed during Zhang Jue's Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Unexpectedly, Li Nian said, "But the failure of the Yellow Turban Rebellion did not lead to the demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Although there were various problems in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the army of the Eastern Han Dynasty was still strong."

Qin Shi Huang and his two companions were stunned when they heard this. What? The Eastern Han Dynasty had so many problems, both natural disasters and man-made calamities, but it had not been destroyed by the Yellow Turban Rebellion. It really had a tough life.

"In March of the seventh year of Guanghe, Zhang Jue raised an army to rebel against the Han Dynasty under the slogan 'The blue sky has died, the yellow sky should be established, the year is Jiazi, and the world is auspicious'. Due to betrayal by a traitor, the uprising was not fully prepared and was launched hastily. If Zhang Jue could complete the preparations, it should be able to hold out for a while longer!"

"But even if Zhang Jue was fully prepared, he couldn't destroy the Eastern Han Dynasty. Although the Eastern Han Dynasty was old, its strength was still above that of the Yellow Turban Army. The Yellow Turban Rebellion was huge. Within a month after the uprising, there were wars in all seven states and twenty-eight counties across the country. The Yellow Turban Army's offensive was so fierce that some states and counties were lost and officials and soldiers fled."

"However, the Eastern Han court appointed Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun, Huangfu Song and others as generals to lead the army to suppress the rebellion. It was also in this war to suppress the Yellow Turbans that many heroes of the late Han Dynasty appeared on the scene. Cao Cao of Wei, Liu Bei of Shu, and Sun Jian of Wu all made great contributions during this period."

"It can be said that this was the end of Zhang Jue and the stage for the emergence of the heroes of the late Han Dynasty!"

When he heard the words "Liu Bei of Shu", the First Emperor felt an inexplicable emotion in his heart: this Liu Bei must be the descendant of Liu Bang, the founder of Shu Han. The dynasty established by this guy Liu Bang was really good at survival. After the Western Han Dynasty fell, there was the Eastern Han Dynasty, and after the Eastern Han Dynasty fell, another Shu Han popped up.

Dead, but not completely dead. He was about to be buried in the ground, but he was still able to breathe a few more times. He was very capable of survival...

Is this the benefit of having many descendants?
Should I also add more people to the royal family?
When the Qin Dynasty enters its decline in the future, I will be able to survive like Liu Bang, the Han Dynasty.

Li Nian, who didn't know how much benefit the First Emperor had thought of from Liu Bei, continued, "Under the attack of these people, the Yellow Turban Army's overwhelming offensive was stopped, and they quickly went from victory to defeat. Gradually, they could only defend themselves and had no power to fight back."

"What's even more unfortunate is that Zhang Jue died of illness. Zhang Jue was the founder of the Taiping Dao. His position in the Yellow Turban Army was irreplaceable. His death was like the spiritual pillar supporting the Yellow Turban Army collapsed."

"If Zhang Jue were still alive, he could have commanded many Yellow Turbans and the Eastern Han army to hold out. But with his death, the Yellow Turbans lost their backbone. His brothers Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao did not have his influence and could not convince the people. The Yellow Turbans were doomed."

"In October of the same year, Huangfu Song defeated Zhang Liang's army in Guangzong, captured 30,000 heads, and about 50,000 people died by jumping into the river. He burned carts weighing more than 30,000 taels, and captured all the women and children of the Yellow Turban Army, and captured many people."

"In November, Huangfu Song and Julu Governor Fengyi Guo Dian captured Quyang, and successfully killed Zhang Bao, and then annihilated more than 100,000 Yellow Turban troops, and built Jingguan in the south of the city."

"Although Zhang Jue died of illness, after Guangzong was captured, his coffin was broken into and his body was dismembered by Huangfu Song, and his head was transported back to Luoyang. At this point, the Yellow Turban Army was completely defeated and the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quelled."

After hearing this, the First Emperor and the other two had mixed emotions. From the perspective of a king and court ministers, they should regard Zhang Jue and the Yellow Turban Army as traitors, but for some reason they also felt that it was a pity for Zhang Jue as he had raised the banner of rebellion against the powerful Eastern Han Dynasty.

Li Nian didn't care what the three people thought, and continued: "Although Zhang Jue is dead and the Yellow Turbans are destroyed, the Eastern Han Dynasty has been severely damaged. A huge wound has been cut on the body of the increasingly weak giant, making it difficult to stop bleeding and further heading towards destruction."

"After the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quelled, Liu Hong also realized that he might become the king of a fallen country, and took some measures to save the Eastern Han Dynasty, but it was of no use. Moreover, Liu Hong was not a king with a strong will. Even though he felt that the Eastern Han Dynasty was in danger of collapse, he still indulged in pleasure."

"Yes, the Eastern Han Dynasty might be destroyed, and he might become the king of a fallen country, but this doesn't stop him from trying to save it while continuing to enjoy himself, without any delay!"

These words made the First Emperor and the other two look strange. What a good "no delay"! With such a ridiculous emperor, the Eastern Han Dynasty was able to survive the Yellow Turban Rebellion. It was amazing.

Although Liu Hong was an absurd emperor, it does not mean that he was completely incompetent. If he had not ascended the throne at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but during a stable period of the dynasty, his evaluation would not have been particularly bad, and the Eastern Han Dynasty did not perish in Liu Hong's hands.

Li Nian said: "The Yellow Turban Rebellion also made many people see the weakness of the Eastern Han court. Rebellions broke out frequently in various places. It was at this time that Liu Hong made the most fatal mistake to the Eastern Han Dynasty: in the fifth year of Zhongping, Liu Yan, who was the Minister of Rites at the time, suggested to Liu Hong that the royal family and important officials be appointed as governors of the provinces."

"The Eastern Han Dynasty also adopted the county system, but added an extra level of 'state', which became states, counties, and prefectures. States governed counties, and the main officials of states and counties were governors and prefects. The official position of the governor of a state seemed to be above that of the prefect of a county. However, the governor's duty at that time was to supervise the officials of the counties in the state, and he was not the highest administrative chief of a state."

The First Emperor and his two men were all veterans of officialdom, and as soon as they heard this, they immediately understood the pros and cons of this arrangement.

The advantage is that it can limit the power of the Inspector, preventing him from taking control of a state and becoming a local tyrant, threatening the central government. The disadvantage is that the Inspector may not be able to restrain the Prefect, especially when the world is in turmoil, because the Prefect holds real power in a county, while the Inspector only has supervisory power.

If the powerful governor does not want to listen to the supervision of the governor, what can the governor do?

(End of this chapter)