Taiping Dao at the end of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 3 Zhang Jiao's Disciples
"My esteemed teacher, this time when I was gathering provisions, I first traveled eastward within Julu County, passing through Guangping, Quzhou, and Guangzong, then crossed the boundary bridge to reach Ganling Kingdom. In Ganling Kingdom, I continued gathering provisions along the Qing River, passing through Dongwu City to Guangchuan. From Guangchuan, I then headed northwest into Anping Kingdom, passing through Xindu, Nangong, and Jingxian, finally returning to Pingxiang in Julu..."

"Along the way, all the famine victims I saw from Julu County were rushing here. Beyond Julu County, Ganling Kingdom was also ravaged by plague; the roads were littered with the elderly and weak collapsed, especially along the Qinghe River where the devastation was most severe! Swollen corpses floated everywhere on the Qinghe River, cracking at the slightest touch… These corpses carried the plague into the water, which spread along the river, rendering the water undrinkable. I warned the people along the way never to drink the river water raw, hoping it would be of some use…"

"Anping Kingdom fared slightly better, with fewer corpses on the roads compared to Ganling Kingdom. However, when we traveled south from Xindu last month and reached the Jiang River, we discovered signs of drying up, confirming that another drought had struck this year. The Zhang River, which connects to the Jiang River, was in the same state, and even the Julu Marsh, spanning hundreds of miles, had noticeably shrunk..."

In the secondary hall of the Tianqi Temple, the Great Teacher Zhang Jiao kneels facing south at the head of the hall, surrounded by seven kneeling disciples, forming a rough circle, as if they were surrounding an unseen altar.

Zhang Jiao's left was seated his eldest disciple, Ma Yuanyi, and his right was seated his second disciple, Tang Zhou. These two disciples were essentially his right and left hands, each responsible for external affairs and internal affairs, respectively.

Further down the list, since the third disciple, Xin Mao'an, had not yet returned from collecting grain, the disciples seated in order were, first the fourth disciple, Pan Jingzhi, and the fifth disciple, Xie Chu, then the sixth disciple, Wu Deng, and the seventh disciple, Gao Daonu. As for the youngest disciple, the eighth disciple, Zhang Chengfu, he sat at the very bottom, facing south, directly opposite Zhang Jiao, Ma Yuanyi, and Tang Zhou.

"The world has lost its virtue, and disasters and plagues are rampant... A great plague and drought are occurring simultaneously. Who knows how many people in Ji Province will die this year? In the past five years, Ji Province has suffered four major disasters. Heaven and man are in cahoots; with such calamities on earth, Heaven is truly dead!..."

Zhang Chengfu tilted his head slightly to look at his senior brother, Ma Yuanyi, who was speaking eloquently. Ma Yuanyi was probably in his thirties or forties, with a square face, thick and neat eyebrows, and calm and piercing eyes, exuding a convincing leadership quality. He spoke clearly and logically, his voice was quite loud, and his resolute expression was very inspiring.

"Under the harsh heavens! Years of disaster and plague have left the government without any relief. The people are struggling to survive, with no surplus grain in their hands. To obtain food, they can only turn to powerful families and wealthy merchants..."

"Among the prominent families in Julu County, the most distinguished are the Geng family of Yintao County, a family of military merit; the Ju family of Julu County, a noble and aristocratic family; and then the Wang family of Xiaquyang County, a powerful and influential family in the county... Yintao and Xiaquyang are in the north. Since my junior brother Xin went to collect grain, I went to Julu County, the nearest county in the southeast, first. The Ju family, the ancestral home of Julu County, owns tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, thousands of servants, and thousands of bushels of grain! I took my master's talisman and medicine and went to the Ju family manor to pay my respects, but the result... alas!"

Speaking of the "Julu Ju Clan," Ma Yuanyi sighed and shook his head in disappointment. Zhang Jiao closed his eyes slightly, his face expressionless, already guessing the outcome.

"Yuanyi, the Ju clan of Julu, always prides themselves on being a noble and upright family, yet they act like corrupt elements. The Ju clan has served as officials in the Jizhou governor's office for generations, and their disdain for our Taiping Dao is nothing new. For the past few years, the Ju clan has been ruthlessly seizing fertile land in Julu County. The deaths of the county's famine victims from disease and starvation will only make it easier for them to annex the land… while our relief efforts are actually hindering their land grabbing. The reason I sent you there this time is simply to see if you can exchange some medicine to cure the plague for some grain…"

At this point, Zhang Jiao suddenly remembered something and glanced at his youngest disciple, Zhang Chengfu. Zhang Chengfu gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and remained silent, his eyes seeming to hold flames. Zhang Jiao sighed inwardly and then let Ma Yuanyi continue.

"Yes! Your wisdom is profound. I pleaded with the Ju family for two days before finally gaining entry. The man who saw me was the head of the Ju family in his prime, the Prefectural Administrator of Ji Province, Ju Shou Ju Gongyu. He was about my age, known as the 'Elder of the Scholars,' and had a good reputation among the gentry of Ji Province, but he harbored deep prejudice against our Taiping Dao. He reprimanded us, accusing us of 'using the title of Heaven's Mandate, fabricating talismans and water to bring disaster to our villages, and acting recklessly as officials.' In the end, the entire Ju family of Julu didn't contribute a single bushel of grain, wasting three precious days of our time!..."

"Ah! Ju Gongyu, the Prefectural Administrator of Ji Province, actually speaks of our Taiping Dao in such a way? There must be some misunderstanding. And now, what is the attitude of the Ji Province Governor's Office towards us?...

Upon hearing this, Tang Zhou looked somewhat worried. Zhang Jiao glanced at the reactions of his trusted disciples, pondered for a moment, and then spoke calmly.

"No problem! The former governor of Ji Province, Liu Yan, has been transferred to the position of prefect of Nanyang. The newly appointed governor of Ji Province, Li Shao, once asked me to divine his fortune. He contracted an epidemic shortly after arriving in Ji Province and recovered only after taking my talismanic medicine. Hmm, he is associated with the partisans and is somewhat friendly with us... Our Taiping Dao operates in Ji Province, always adhering to the righteous path of the Yellow Heaven, healing the sick and saving lives, and persuading people to do good. There will be no obstacles in the governor's office of Ji Province!"

"Ah? Prefect Li is connected with the partisans? So that's how it is! Absolutely! The partisans have always been on good terms with our Taiping Dao, often saying things like 'Heaven is dead, the court has lost its virtue'..."

Zhang Jiao stopped short of revealing his meaning, but Tang Zhou already understood. Born into a family of civil officials, he had served as a minor official in Jinan, Qingzhou, for several years. Later, due to his association with the Shangguan Party Prohibitions, he was forced to flee north of the Yellow River and join the Way of Peace. As someone who had personally experienced the effects of the Party Prohibitions, he was intimately familiar with the irreconcilable conflict between eunuchs and partisans in the Han Dynasty court!
"The governor of Ji Province, the partisans... It turns out that the prophecy of 'Heaven is dead' from the Way of Peace spread throughout the land thanks in no small partisans' covert instigation. The target was undoubtedly the emperor and the eunuchs. When the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, the emperor was forced to lift the ban on the partisans and grant them amnesty. From then on, the partisans were able to enter officialdom, becoming the de facto sole beneficiaries..." Zhang Chengfu raised his head, pursed his lips, and remained silent, his eyes flashing with thought. He looked at his senior brother, Ma Yuanyi, whose expression remained unchanged, clearly already aware of the gravity of the situation.

This senior disciple had a wide circle of friends and considerable insight. He came from a humble background in the vicinity of Sili and Luoyang, that is, from a commoner family of relatively low social standing. Later, he went into business dealing in incense and medicine, where he met the Great Master of Virtue, who was just beginning to preach the Way, and thus became a disciple of the Way of Great Peace. More than ten years passed, and he became the undisputed leader of the Way of Great Peace, also possessing the most crucial register of disciples.

“Indeed! Our Way of Great Peace spreads its teachings in Sili, Yuzhou, Jizhou, and Qingzhou, and we have been very lenient with the members of the partisan faction who were imprisoned... If the new governor is related to the partisans, then there is indeed no need to worry about the government’s obstruction!”

Zhang Chengfu looked up at the sound and saw it was his fourth senior brother, Pan Jingzhi. The man stroked his beard and nodded slightly, clearly aware of the political situation at court. This fourth senior brother had also risen through the ranks of minor officials, having served as the local agricultural official in Julu County. Later, due to poor tax collection and shortages, he was punished and thus joined the Taiping Dao, a local sect, where he was responsible for the sect's documents.

So, the eldest disciple, Ma Yuanyi, was a poor merchant; the second disciple, Tang Zhou, and the fourth disciple, Pan Jingzhi, were both fugitive officials; and then there was the third disciple, Xin Maoan, who came from a poor aristocratic family and was out collecting grain... Among Zhang Jiao's eight disciples, the first four were all from poor aristocratic families or were minor officials in the government!

They were knowledgeable, literate, and skilled in calculation, each shouldering important responsibilities. They handled the affairs of the church with remarkable ease, far surpassing the other disciples who came from humble backgrounds!
The reasons are quite obvious. In this era, "cultural knowledge" was only passed down within families, from the upper-class gentry to the middle-class officials, and then it stopped abruptly. The knowledge that the lower-class commoners could obtain was only shamanistic practices, talismans, prophecies, and verses, which were mostly passed down orally, and they were illiterate.

"A partisan? Could it be... that this governor of Ji Province, while serving as an official in the imperial court, is secretly at odds with it?..."

Fifth Senior Brother Xie Chu pondered for a moment before suddenly realizing what was going on. He was from the Zhongshan Kingdom; his father had died in the military campaign against the Qiang, but at least he had left behind the tradition of shamanism. Subsequently, relying on his skills as a shamanic healer, he practiced medicine barefoot in the cities and countryside for many years, achieving success in both shamanism and medicine. Although his literary skills were limited, he had encountered all sorts of people from all walks of life, making him quite experienced and knowledgeable, and faster than anyone else!

Six or seven years ago, he practiced medicine in the State of Zhongshan and met Zhang Jiao, a great and virtuous teacher who had reached the pinnacle of both shamanism and medicine. It was as if he had suddenly met his "founding master" and naturally entered the path of medicine.

"What are the Party members? Are they just those powerful patriarchs? Why would they be friendly with our Taiping Dao?"

"Heh! I don't believe them! What good person could a man surnamed Hao be? They only smile when they're lending money!..."

Zhang Chengfu looked to his left and right, where the speakers were his sixth senior brother Wu Deng and seventh senior brother Gao Daonu. These two senior brothers were quite doubtful and did not understand the key to the matter at all.

Among them, the sixth senior brother, Wu Deng, was from the State of Zhao (Handan Commandery), and his family had been blacksmiths for generations. Handan in the State of Zhao was the iron-smelting center of Ji Province, undertaking the heavy corvée labor of forging military weapons for the imperial court. Wu Deng's father was a blacksmith who, after being conscripted by the court for corvée labor, died from exhaustion in the government's workshop because he had no money to bribe the official in charge of the labor service. Later, the government conscripted more corvée labor onto the blacksmith Wu Deng. He had no choice but to abandon his family and flee to join the Way of Peace.

The seventh senior brother, Gao Daonu, was somewhat similar to Zhang Chengfu, also an orphan, perhaps even more tragically so. Gao Daonu was from Zhuojun in Youzhou, of mixed Han and non-Han descent, and was captured and enslaved in the mines from a young age. Fortunately, he was extremely robust and exceptionally fast. Four years ago, he found an opportunity to escape from the mines and headed south, from Zhuojun in Youzhou to the neighboring Hejian Kingdom in Jizhou. Upon arriving in Hejian, he happened to encounter the Taiping Dao distributing talismanic water and wheat porridge, and followed them begging for food. Ultimately, thanks to his astonishing "innate constitution," he was accepted as a disciple by the Great Teacher of Virtue.

As for Zhang Cheng's betrayal of himself, that goes without saying. The farmers of Julu County, Julu Prefecture, had been the lowest class of peasants for eight generations. Until three years ago, a great disaster struck, their grain reserves were exhausted, and tax officials came knocking. His parents and eldest sister were all dead, his family was utterly destroyed, and his land was taken by the Ju family…

According to this calculation, the four disciples that the Great Teacher of Virtue took in after the shaman, the craftsman, the slave, and the farmer were all the poorest people at the bottom of society, and all had an irreconcilable blood feud with the government!
From the very beginning of his missionary work, when he accepted educated but impoverished scholars and bankrupt officials, to the point that as his mission grew and he attracted many followers, he began to take in disciples from humble backgrounds and nurture them gradually, this subtle shift in his approach to teaching and accepting disciples may offer a glimpse into the changing mindset of the Great Teacher.

The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Dao is forty-nine, and humanity escapes to one. In every sip and bite, it is as if one has taken on some true destiny! But is this ethereal destiny of the world ultimately from top to bottom, or from bottom to top?
For thousands of years, the answer for the nine provinces of China has always been the same, like the "four nines of the celestial evolution." Only at this moment, when the Way of Peace of the Yellow Heaven appears in the world for the first time, does that faint hope arise, that "one that humanity escapes to"!
(End of this chapter)