The Rise of History’s Most Powerful Empire

Chapter 90: Xiliangs Riot (II)

A month later, when the local clans and officials exhausted all means of raising soldiers in Luoyang, they went to war.

100,000 strong, geared up and supplied marched out.

The men were mostly the servants and clansmen the clans accumulated over generations and earned their loyalty.

They also had food donations from the clans to fill warehouses.

Knowing their families were in the safe hands of the clans, these servants' morale was at an all time high.

It only went to show how deep rooted the practice of clans and their influence had on the Han Dynasty for centuries.

In just a short time, they amassed an army around Luoyang's counties.

If they could raise the whole nation, they'd have 500,000 and with training too.

Being geared up for death and no fear of it, the force could even overthrow the dynasty.

Though such clans only survived in the dynasties before Sui and Tang, since these were militaristic and aggressive.

The Empire was a historical concept. It implied three meanings. A unified and vast territory, authoritarian rule or high centralized government and heavy expansion by military. 

No matter how rich and powerful post Tang dynasties were, none were empires in the truest sense.

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After the Song Dynasty, power was highly focused on the central government and the trend shifted from crossing swords to scribbling words and reciting poetry.

The scholars turned into nothing more than pompous demagogues, losing their edge the training gave them and the country sank into conservative trends.

The clans of that time raised servants who could hold sticks and not swords, with at most a couple hundred people. But they also lacked loyalty.

But this army was raised like in those times before Sui and Tang dynasties, where the clan's army could rival the court's.

The 100,000 drove to Xiliang, their main role to hold the defense line and occupy the lands.

It was soon followed by a second wave of clan army, 200,000. Once the battlefield was stabilized, the counter attack would follow to eradicate any clans in Guanzhong.

They dug in Chang'an where the onslaught of Xiliang's armies had inched them towards collapse, but now stabilized.

It became a stalemate, with the court wanting to counter attack with just 100,000 was hardly feasible, nor was the Xilian's army able to break through the hard defenses.

Another month went by and a second reinforcement came in the form of 200,000 men, with all the power of the clans.

The army of Chang'an unleashed a massive offensive, exhausting both sides in the month that followed.

They figured if they didn't take Xiliang down now, with the fresh 200,000 reinforcements, there wouldn't be a better chance. 

Waiting any longer and they'd recuperate which would make matters worse.

The 200,000 strong army rolled in, drowning Xilian's side with ease.

The 200,000 Xilian army fell and only 100,000 survived, who fled to Liangzhou to recruit more men under their flag.

The court pursued relentlessly and recovered the lost counties. They finally confronted each other again at Wei River in Tianshui Region. The Xiliang army had regained its strength.

July marked six months since Zhong Yu unified the south. The Han court at long last discovered him and his empire. 

But with the Xiliang rebellion on hand, it had no time to pay it attention, leaving troops to guard the border.

They took it for a newly formed empire and needed time to stabilize itself and appease the populace.

All its energy was focused on building its departments and had little time to campaign up north.

As the north was mostly plains as far the eye could see, the south had no good herds of horses used to cross it.

So while fuming with anger for losing the south, the Emperor Ling put his focus on Xiliang.

He wanted to deal with it as soon as possible then focus back south.

With this policy, the matter with the rebellion became worse.

Batch after batch of reinforcements were sent to Xiliang, knowing they would find their death in Guanzhong.

But in the end one state could not hold the other eight by itself.

The frontlines withdrew from Tianshui to two counties behind, then to Wuwei Region. The 200,000 strong resistance had been dwindling to 100,000 then to 60,000, despite the constant conscription.

It hardly resisted the court's attack of 200,000 in Xiliang. Xiliang was sparse in population, with hardly more than 500,000 people on record. WHile Guanzhong only has about 1 million.

Before the rebellion, Xiliang had Guanzhong hostage and used its hundreds of thousands of people as cannon fodder to fight back the court. 

But with how the fighting lasted so long, Xiliang was running out of them and the population reduced drastically. Of 500,000 men, it was a miracle if 40,000 survived.