I Can Control My Ancestors-Chapter 146 - 55: The Beginning of Reform, Confronting Zhang Jiao_2

Chapter 146: Chapter 55: The Beginning of Reform, Confronting Zhang Jiao_2

Zhang Jiao stood atop the altar, surveying the crowd, and slightly spreading his arms, he declared in a loud voice, "The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise!"

"Today, we crush the enemy and establish our Yellow Heaven!!"

Cry after cry rang out!

And the next day, Zhang Jiao suddenly launched an attack on Lu Zhi.

The entire Yellow Turban Army was like a beast, poised to strike, unstoppable.

The frenzied assault caught Lu Zhi completely off guard.

—The situation changed instantly!

On the battlefield, the sounds of battle were deafening.

The clash of swords and the wails of the wounded intertwined in a thunderous cacophony.

Lu Zhi, clad in armor, stood at the front lines, watching the gruesome scene before him, his expression exceedingly grave.

"Mad, they’re all mad!" he muttered to himself, "Are they trying to drag my army to death?"

He truly could not comprehend.

The news of Gu Xi being appointed as commander should have instilled fear in the Yellow Turban Army, so why were they now so frenzied?

But at this moment, the situation allowed no time for more thought.

Lu Zhi quickly made a decision; he knew he couldn’t continue fighting like this, so he decisively ordered a retreat, awaiting reinforcements from Gu Xi.

But since Zhang Jiao had been preparing for this, how could he allow Lu Zhi to retreat so easily?

He personally led his troops in pursuit.

Several times pushing Lu Zhi to the brink of despair.

It was fortunate that the Yellow Turban Army’s overall strength was not very high, and their discipline was already lacking, allowing Lu Zhi to seize the opportunity to withdraw.

But it came at a critical loss.

The most crucial thing was—Handan was lost!

The loss of Ye City and Handan effectively severed the court’s control over the entire Jizhou State.

The most critical thing was, if Zhang Jiao was a bit bolder, adopting a dragon-slaying strategy.

He could directly march into Henei.

And thus threaten the entire Luoyang!

The situation changed again!

The original crisis was no longer adequate to describe the current situation.

This sudden change was enough to threaten Luoyang, the Great Han now faced the danger of collapse!

This battle fought by Zhang Jiao ignited the Yellow Turban Army’s madness; everyone seemed to envision the scene of breaking into Luoyang City.

In such a situation, it seemed everyone smelled the scent of impending doom.

At last, it was decided!

Gu Yi had been quietly observing it all.

The development of the current situation had already far exceeded the original history.

Zhang Jiao was too strong.

Though never having followed Gu Xi, he had nonetheless learned much from the Gu Clan’s private school and the various rumors about Gu Xi.

He excelled at mythologizing himself to boost morale.

And in terms of commanding the overall battle, he far surpassed the original history.

This indeed was a major variable!

However, Gu Yi still believed that the Yellow Turban Rebellion could not destroy the Great Han.

The key factor that Zhang Jiao couldn’t solve was that the Yellow Turban Army lacked high-end talent.

Whether in terms of the religious nature of Taiping Dao or their core demands, they were fundamentally at odds with the clans that held high-end talent in this era.

This was an unsolvable issue.

As long as this problem remained, the outcome of the Yellow Turban Uprising was destined.

What truly concerned Gu Yi was Gu Xi’s actions.

It was apparent that his focus was not merely on quelling the unrest; he aimed to take this opportunity to completely redistribute everything in the Great Han, to rejuvenate it.

What kind of great transformation this might lead to, Gu Yi did not yet know.

But clearly....

The history to come would have a completely different transformation!

.....

— In the sixth year of Jianning, February.

Gu Xi departed Luoyang once more.

On the day of departure, the entire city was in an uproar.

Perhaps because the situation was too tense, or perhaps because their progeny were involved,

The great clans took it very seriously, having long since publicized the matter, using various means to create momentum for this.

And Liu Hong seemed to have finally remembered his duty as Emperor.

Outside the city gates, he personally bid farewell to Gu Xi, displaying before all of Luoyang the image of a wise ruler and virtuous minister.

Once again placing the burden of the entire Great Han on Gu Xi’s shoulders.

Such a scene indeed fooled many people.

Compared to the common people from other regions, the citizens of Luoyang suffered the least, thanks to Gu Xi’s presence in the Capital City.

For the people of Luoyang, the strife between eunuchs and literati would not directly affect their lives.

It was the Capital, and with Gu Xi in the city,

How could any official be bold enough to cause trouble in Luoyang?

People are always like this.

Before truly feeling despair, it’s easy to be deceived by appearances.

At the very least, what Liu Hong did now deceived many, making them once again feel that the Great Han would surely turn crisis into security.

Gu Xi, however, showed no change in expression.

He merely performed the customary rituals of ruler and minister to Liu Hong, then left straight away with no reluctance.

.....

In the current situation, Yellow Turban rebels were spread across various states of the country.

Gu Xi, of course, would not personally rush to every place; for him, his target was only one.

— That was Zhang Jiao, who was in Hebei.

But he would not let other provincial generals act independently, dispatching descendants of the clans to various places, using his name to stabilize the Han Army’s morale.

And in the name of the Grand Tutor, he issued a "Proclamation Against the Yellow Turbans" to the world!

He had long analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the Yellow Turbans.

Morale was an extremely important factor for the Yellow Turban Army.

Allowing the great clans to insert their descendants into the ranks was for this purpose.

The combined momentum of the great clans far exceeded the power of one person, and this was Gu Xi’s first strike at the morale of the Yellow Turban Army.