Three Kingdoms: Start by buying a governor.

The news quickly spread throughout Luoyang.

People flocked to the streets, eager to see what this traitor Ma Yuanyi looked like.

(We've always loved watching a good show.)

As Ma Yuanyi was escorted through Luoyang's most bustling commercial street, the streets were already packed with onlookers.

"That's him! The traitor from the Way of Peace!"

"I heard they're planning a rebellion and will kill the emperor!"

"That's incredibly audacious!"

……

As the people talked, they threw things at Ma Yuanyi—rotten vegetable leaves, rotten eggs, stones, and all sorts of things.

Ma Yuanyi was beaten until his head was bleeding, but he always held his head high, his eyes full of defiance.

"Make way! Make way! Everyone make way!"

The imperial guards pushed through the crowd and escorted Ma Yuanyi to the street in the center of the city.

The rack has been set up, ready to execute Ma Yuanyi by dismemberment.

Dismemberment by five horses, also known as being torn apart by five horses, was one of the cruelest punishments in ancient times, specifically used to execute those who had committed the heinous crime of treason.

Ma Yuanyi was tied to the rack, with five warhorses strapped to his limbs and neck.

More and more people gathered to watch, and the entire square was packed with people.

Just before the execution, Ma Yuanyi suddenly saw Tang Zhou in the crowd.

Tang Zhou's face showed a hint of smugness and fear as he secretly watched everything on the execution ground. When Tang Zhou saw Ma Yuanyi looking over, he immediately lowered his head, trying to hide himself, but Ma Yuanyi still recognized him.

It turns out that this person who was always so respectful to me was actually a traitor!

"Tang Zhou!"

Ma Yuanyi suddenly shouted loudly, his voice hoarse but full of anger.

"You traitor! You despicable villain!"

Tang Zhou was so frightened by the loud shout that he almost collapsed to the ground. He wanted to escape, but there were people all around him, and he couldn't move at all.

"Tang Zhou! I never expected it to be you!"

Ma Yuanyi continued cursing.

"We, the Way of Peace, have treated you well, and the Great Teacher of Virtue has trusted you implicitly. Yet you have betrayed us! You have ruined the great cause of the Way of Peace! You will be punished!"

Only then did the onlookers realize that the informant was Tang Zhou, and they all turned to look at Tang Zhou.

"So it was him!"

"That traitor!"

"To save their own lives, they'd even betray their own people!"

……

Tang Zhou trembled under the gaze of the crowd. He wanted to explain, but amidst Ma Yuanyi's angry shouts, any explanation seemed pale and powerless.

"Execute!"

The executioner gave the order.

Five warhorses galloped off in five different directions at the same time, and Ma Yuanyi let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Some onlookers closed their eyes, unable to watch, while others wore expressions of satisfaction and relief.

After Ma Yuanyi died, his head was cut off and hung on the city gate for public display.

Those Taiping Dao believers who were implicated by Tang Zhou were also arrested one by one.

In just a few days, tens of thousands of people in Luoyang were beheaded for crimes committed by the Taiping Dao, their bodies piled up like mountains and their blood flowing like rivers.

Meanwhile, inside the Deyang Palace, Liu Hong was holding an emergency court meeting.

"My esteemed ministers, you are all aware of the Taiping Dao's rebellion, aren't you?"

Liu Hong's face was ashen; this was the biggest crisis he had faced since ascending the throne.

"Your Majesty, although Ma Yuanyi has been brought to justice, the three Zhang brothers are still outside."

He Jin reported.

"General He is right!" Situ Yuanwei also stepped forward and said.

"I suggest that an immediate nationwide warrant be issued for the arrest of Zhang Jiao, Zhang Bao, and Zhang Liang."

Liu Hong nodded.

"Very well! Issue my decree: issue a nationwide warrant for the arrest of Zhang Jiao, Zhang Bao, and Zhang Liang!"

"Anyone who can provide information on their whereabouts will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold! Whoever captures them will be ennobled as a marquis with ten thousand households!"

"I obey your decree!"

All the ministers responded in unison.

The news quickly spread throughout the thirteen provinces of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Each province and county began a massive manhunt for followers of the Way of Peace.

a few days later.

Ji Province, Julu Commandery.

In an ordinary house, the oil lamp flickered on and off. Zhang Jiao stared at the blood-stained report in his hand, his fist clenched so tightly that the veins bulged.

"Big brother!"

Zhang Bao kicked the object away, his voice trembling.

"Brother Ma Yuanyi... was torn apart by five horses in Luoyang! That dog emperor even ordered us to be wanted throughout the thirteen prefectures of the Han Dynasty!"

Zhang Liang slammed his fist on the earthen wall and grimaced as he spoke.

"That traitor Tang Zhou! Brother, you trusted him so much back then, and he turned around and sold us out!"

Zhang Jiao closed his eyes, his chest heaving violently, but when he opened them again, he had regained his composure.

"What's the panic! Tang Zhou is nothing but a clown. The blood of the Ma Yuanyi brothers will not have been shed in vain."

He walked to the sheepskin map covered with symbols on the wall and heavily traced his finger across the eight provinces of Qing, Xu, You, Ji, Jing, Yang, Yan and Yu.

"We've been planning this for over a decade. In eight of the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty, we have thirty-six groups of believers, numbering in the hundreds of thousands!"

"Although the Luoyang route has been severed, the tide has turned, and it cannot be stopped by killing one Ma Yuanyi or sending in another Tang Zhou!"

Zhang Jiao stared at his two younger brothers.

"The emperor has already ordered our arrest. If we don't act, we'll be sitting here waiting to die. The plan must be moved up!"

That night, several groups of Taiping Dao followers rode out of Julu.

They carried secret orders written on burlap in their arms and yellow turbans hidden at their waists.

That will be the signal that changes the color of the world.

……

In the seventh year of Guanghe (184 AD), in the second month...

On the altar outside Julu City.

Zhang Jiao stepped onto the altar, wearing the robe of the Taiping Dao, but in his hand he no longer held the nine-section staff, but a long sword.

Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang stood on either side of him behind him and began his speech on the uprising.

"Dear disciples/devout believers"

Zhang Jiao's voice carried a hoarse, murderous aura.

"The Blue Heaven is dead! The Yellow Heaven shall rise! In this Han Dynasty, the emperor is incompetent, eunuchs hold power, officials are like tigers, and powerful clans are like wolves! They give us no way to survive, they steal our grain, they seize our land, and they force us to sell our children!"

The crowd below the stage began to stir, and countless clenched fists trembled slightly.

Crackling sounds... a whole bunch... (Just get to it.)

"The Azure Heaven is dead! The Yellow Heaven shall rise! In the year of Jiazi, great fortune will come to the world!" Zhang Jiao suddenly raised his sword and pointed it to the sky.

(This scene is no less dramatic than that of an art student who failed their college entrance exam.)

"The Azure Heaven is dead! The Yellow Heaven shall rise! In the year of Jiazi, great fortune will come to the world!" Tens of thousands of people below the stage roared in unison, their voices resounding loudly.

Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang immediately led a group of core disciples to distribute the prepared yellow turbans to everyone.

In an instant, the open space turned into a yellow sea.

Zhang Jiao swung his longsword forward.

"Open the government granaries, eat your fill! Pick up your weapons, and fight this cannibalistic world!"

The crowd surged toward Julu County. The city gate guards, seeing the Yellow Turbans covering the mountains and plains, were terrified and scattered without offering any real resistance.

The Yellow Turban army quickly occupied the prefectural government, opened the granaries to distribute grain, and burned down the government offices.

Smoke billows.