A drowning man clutches at straws—the ancients certainly had a point.
Liu Hong, the exalted Son of Heaven, had actually resorted to witchcraft and curse dolls on his own initiative, even bringing a tung-wood figurine into the ancestral temple—a sight that left even Huang Tian dumbfounded.
Filial! Truly filial piety at its finest!
For an emperor with such filial piety, perhaps he deserved to be left with an intact corpse once Luoyang was taken.
Huang Tian's amusement gradually subsided. Just then, Zhang Jiao's voice came from outside the door.
"Enter."
Zhang Jiao pushed the door open and stepped inside. After offering his respects, he knelt before Huang Tian and reported on the developments of the past month.
"...After our army took Ji Province, our momentum surged tremendously. Many scions of local gentry and scholars from humble families took the initiative to join the Court of Administration, while the Court of Science also recruited several individuals. Prominent lineages across Ji Province, such as the Feng clan of Fanyang, the Zhen clan of Wuji, and the Geng clan of Julu, have all expressed their desire to pledge allegiance..."
Having outlined the general situation in Ji Province, Zhang Jiao immediately proceeded to report on the military:
"Following the conclusion of the great battle of Guangzong, our army captured the Han army's commanders. Among them, Huangfu Song adamantly refused to surrender, hurled foul abuse, and had slaughtered our Huang Tian believers too excessively, so he was publicly executed according to the law. Lu Zhi has not surrendered, though he has not flatly refused either. Fu Xie killed himself by smashing his head against a pillar. Generals such as Zong Yuan, Li Jue, Guo Dian, and Guo Si have all surrendered, and they are currently drilling and reorganizing our troops.
"After absorbing the surrendered Han soldiers, and counting the forces garrisoning the various commanderies of Ji Province, we have a total of one hundred and ten thousand infantry and twenty thousand cavalry. Zong Yuan and the others intend to weed out the elderly and weak, keeping ninety thousand infantry and fifteen thousand cavalry..."
Huang Tian nodded slightly. "Give them a free hand to prune and reorganize. Of course, you must assign men to supervise from the side—not because we distrust them, but to set their minds at ease."
Zhang Jiao understood Huang Tian's intent and nodded.
"How long will it take to complete the reorganization and retraining? Is there enough grain?" Huang Tian inquired.
"Two months will suffice," Zhang Jiao said. "Ji Province is prosperous. The granaries in the commanderies and counties hold plenty of surplus grain, and combined with the grain offered by numerous gentry clans, it is enough to supply the armies for over a year."
Huang Tian smiled. "Since pruning and reorganization will take two months, then let us wait a bit longer. Two months from now, we march on Luoyang. However, before that, begin surveying the lands in Julu Commandery. Make some noise—the bigger the commotion, the better. It would be best to wake all the vermin in Ji Province before our expedition to Luoyang, so we can round up a good batch and slaughter them ruthlessly!"
Zhang Jiao replied solemnly, "Your disciple understands!"
***
A grand and sweeping land cadastral survey began in Julu Commandery.
Though called a land survey, it was in reality more like striking down local tyrants and dividing their fields, for the great aristocratic families would never permit the imperial court or any other power to measure their holdings.
Land was the foundation—an inexhaustible wealth of silk and coin, an heirloom treasured through generations, the source of tenants, slaves, and private retainers. Strip them of their land, and the powerful clans would no longer stand aloft.
Although the survey did not mean they had to forfeit all their land, requiring them only to surrender their concealed fields and hidden population, the truth was that the concealed portion made up the lion's share...
Thus, even under the strict decrees of the Daoist Court's Court of Administration, the wealthy and powerful magnates of Julu Commandery continued to drag their feet, feigning compliance while covertly sabotaging efforts with underhanded tricks.
It was not that they felt no fear toward the God Huang Tian, but rather that they believed even a god would need the backing of powerful clans and scholar-gentry to govern the world. The mere Yellow Turbans were nothing more than a rabble of muddy-legged peasants; what did they know of ruling a country?
Fools who couldn't even read knew jack shit!
Nurturing such a mentality, they dared to covertly resist the Daoist Court's orders. What they failed to anticipate, however, was that Huang Tian and Zhang Jiao were waiting for them to step out of line.
Compiling a roster of the clans that paid lip service to the survey decree, Zhang Jiao ordered the Yellow Turban Army to exterminate entire families according to the list.
Hundreds of members from Julu's powerful clans, such as the You, Shi, Bu, and Fang clans, were executed, uncovering eighty thousand mu of land and thousands of bondservants.
Even the Geng clan of Julu—a lineage that had held two-thousand-dan offices for generations and produced four enfeoffed marquises—saw over a dozen members of its direct line rounded up and slain, with three thousand mu of land confiscated.
Julu Commandery was shaken to its core. Panic gripped the hearts of the people. Some sons of the powerful clans serving in the Court of Administration lost all heart for handling government affairs, and a few agitated individuals even sought an audience with Zhang Jiao and Huang Tian to beg for a suspension of the land survey decree.
Huang Tian, however, never met with outsiders at all; typically, only Zhang Jiao was permitted an audience, to say nothing of ordinary men. And faced with the indignant gentry-born officials, Zhang Jiao ignored them completely, ordering them stripped of their posts and barred from future service. Thereafter, no one dared advise Zhang Jiao to halt the land measurement and cadastral survey.
The immense uproar in Julu Commandery swiftly spread throughout Ji Province. Across the region, the aristocratic families and gentry clans were terrified by the Daoist Court's ruthless methods.
Some quietly led direct family members in an exodus out of Ji Province toward Yu Province or Luoyang. Others, bolder and reckless, conspired together and dispatched retainers and private troops disguised as bandits and roving outlaws to raid the Yellow Turban garrisons guarding the cities.
For a time, beacon fires rose across Ji Province.
Faced with this situation, the Daoist Court remained unhurried. Centering on Julu Commandery, it dispatched tens of thousands of Yellow Turban troops radiating outward in all directions, wiping out every bandit wherever they went.
If the bandits hid in the countryside beyond pursuit or detection, the court ordered the local gentry to assist the army in hunting them down. If the gentry failed to discover even a shred of the bandits' trail within the allotted deadline, they were judged to have colluded in rebellion with the bandits—and their entire clan was exterminated!
Following clan extermination, all their lands and wealth were confiscated.
The sheer brutality of these methods struck terror into the hearts of the powerful clans. Those who could flee fled, while those loath to abandon their ancestral foundations could only obediently surrender all their concealed land and hidden population.
In a mere two months, Ji Province had transformed completely.
Where once prominent clans blanketed Ji Province, with hundreds or thousands of bondservants and countless fields belonging to each great house, now only a scant few stragglers remained. The noble lineages had fallen, the powerful magnates had been wiped out, and wails of sorrow filled the land.
In stark contrast to the grieving prominent clans, the common folk were overjoyed.
Through cadastral surveys, clan exterminations, and confiscations, the Daoist Court had uncovered more than two million mu of land and nearly one hundred thousand concealed people—and these were merely rough figures; the true numbers were far higher.
These reclaimed lands were gradually distributed to landless and land-poor peasants. The reason progress was slow was that, having antagonized the great clans, the Daoist Court had far too few scribes and administrators at its disposal. They could only proceed step by step; rushing would only lead to a complete mess.
After a basic sweeping of Ji Province, more than two months had slipped by. The surrendered Han troops and original Yellow Turbans had finished being reorganized and drilled. Furthermore, Ji Province was in no want of food, clothing, weapons, or armor. A grand swearing-in ceremony for the expedition was held in Guangzong.
A full forty thousand elite infantry and ten thousand veteran cavalry stood drawn up in orderly square phalanxes on the vast drill ground. Blades and swords gleamed chillingly, halberds and spears stood like a forest, and banners blotted out the sun.
Clad in a cloud-patterned Daoist robe, Huang Tian appeared on the high platform. The fifty thousand soldiers wore expressions of utter fanaticism, gazing unblinkingly up at the deity who protected them.
Huang Tian flicked his sleeve gently, his calm voice carrying across the entire field: "Today, we march on Luoyang, execute the false emperor, and recreate the Yellow Sky of Great Peace!"
As his words fell, the entire army raised their arms and cheered:
"March on Luoyang, recreate the Yellow Sky!"
"March on Luoyang, recreate the Yellow Sky!"
"March on Luoyang, recreate the Yellow Sky!!!"
Chapter 28