Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Lin Han Da / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Huangfu Song withdrew his army to camp over ten miles away, and Zhang Liang also did not go out to fight him. These days, he was busy with his brother. The Heaven General Zhang Jiao, exhausted from overwork, defeated Dong Zhuo and returned from Xiaqiyang, but then fell ill. Over the past three days, his illness worsened. The Humanity General Zhang Liang had not slept for three consecutive nights. He tried to comfort Zhang Jiao to rest and recover, but Zhang Jiao had a high fever, kept talking in his dreams, and insisted on going out to fight the enemy. He said that the people of the eight provinces of the world called him the Great Sage and Teacher, and who in every household did not curse the court? Everyone said: "The Blue Sky is dead, the Yellow Sky shall rise." The thirty-six factions of the peasants rose up simultaneously, and within a few days, the whole world responded. But unexpectedly, in the past six months, the Yellow Turban rebels in various places had been slaughtered by nobles, officials, landlords, and strongmen, and the situation grew worse, as did his illness. He angrily exclaimed, "I really don’t understand, how can there be so many man-eating wolves in the world."
On the day of the 15th of the eighth month, he said to Zhang Liang and a few others standing before him, "The Blue Sky is dead, but the wolves are still alive." Everyone knew he was talking in his dreams again and could only look at him with worried faces, listening to him. Soon, he suddenly burst into laughter, humming as if singing, "The Blue Sky is dead, the Yellow Turbans shall not perish! United as one, the world will prosper!" With these words, this great sage and teacher who first rose up in rebellion, hoping for world prosperity, breathed his last.
After Zhang Jiao’s death, the peasants who had joined the uprising mourned as if they had lost their parents, and his brother Zhang Liang felt even worse. Also, because he had not slept well for several days, at this moment, he could only sigh weakly. Upon hearing that their leader had died, the Yellow Turban rebels in Guangzong were as if the sky had collapsed and could not help but weep. The simple-hearted peasant army had no idea about the trick of "not announcing the death in secret."
The news of Zhang Jiao’s death quickly reached Huangfu Song. He immediately devised a plan to attack and issued orders for the troops to cook food at the third watch of the night and move out at the fourth watch, using the crowing of chickens as a signal to attack together. The Yellow Turban rebels were just about to avenge their fallen leader when they wiped away their tears and fought the officials. Although Zhang Liang was unwell, he gritted his teeth, gathered his strength, and ran at the forefront. The two armies fought from the crowing of the chickens until noon, with countless casualties on both sides, neither yielding.
By the afternoon, the Yellow Turban rebels began to falter. Zhang Liang, exhausted from lack of sleep, was mentally disoriented and, in a moment of carelessness, was stabbed by an official’s spear and fell from his horse. He was immediately beheaded by an officer. In an instant, an endless wave of enemies surged into the city like a tide. Huangfu Song’s army entered the city and faced fierce resistance. Every street and corner became a scene of bloodshed. The brutal officials killed over thirty thousand more Yellow Turban rebels. The remaining Yellow Turban rebels had no choice but to flee outside the city. The civilians in the city, fearing slaughter by the officials, also fled with them.
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