After these Yellow Turbans were bewitched by Zhang Jiao's words, they were immediately inspired with their inner reluctance and desire to survive.
They all replied: "We don't want to, so why can these corrupt officials not have to suffer from hunger?"
"In the past few years, there have been constant natural and man-made disasters. I have never seen the imperial court do anything."
"My village has more than three hundred people. After a heavy snowfall, only a dozen were left, and in the end I was the only one left."
"We haven't seen any of the court's disaster relief grains, and we have to pay seven-tenths of the grain for farming. It's hard for us to even have enough food and clothing throughout the year."
"In this day and age, if you kill a chicken, you have to pay a chicken kill tax. No matter what you do, those corrupt officials will always find a way to exploit us."
"If we don't rebel, we will be dead."
These Yellow Turbans, composed of refugees, complained about their injustice in a few words, and Huangpu Song was heartened after hearing it.
He also thought that these people would be greedy, but he never thought that they would be so greedy. Moreover, the taxation of the Han Dynasty has always been only commercial tax and agricultural tax, but the agricultural tax is only 1 in 30 taxes.
And it also includes a poll tax, and even the commercial tax is only one tax per twenty. Sometimes in lean years, there is no tax, but in some places the tax can actually reach as high as ten taxes.
One can imagine how corrupt such court officials are.
Most importantly, those whose family members are in the military are exempt from tax. But these people are still not living well, and they still want to rebel. For the first time, Huangpu Song's intention to destroy the Yellow Turban Army was a little shaken.
He looked at the prefect Liu Yan next to him, wanting to know something from Liu Yan's face. But Liu Yan avoided his gaze and did not dare to look at him.
Zhang Jiao saw the resentment of these Yellow Turbans growing stronger and felt that now was the best time to attack the city. So he shouted loudly: "Yellow Turban Warriors, attack the city."
"Let us kill all these corrupt officials and leave no one behind."
"Everyone can grab the gold, silver and jewels in the city and it belongs to everyone. All you need to do is hand over 30% of the money as military supplies. Attack the city!"
After hearing Zhang Jiao's words, the Yellow Turban Army felt as if they had been given blood. They all went up to attack the city bravely, and Zhang Jiao also knew that as long as he captured Youzhou City, he would be truly qualified to compete with the imperial court.
After all, Youzhou City is the largest city nearby, and there will definitely be no shortage of people and food in it.
And after inquiries from his men, there are only 50,000 troops in Youzhou City. Compared to his army of hundreds of thousands, there was still a huge difference, so Zhang Jiao hoped to capture Youzhou City within three days.
Even if reinforcements from all walks of life arrive by then, Zhang Jiao will definitely not need to be afraid of them.
Zhang Jiao looked at these yellow scarf troops who bravely attacked the city and knew that the people of the world were in love. Now most of it is his, if he handles it right. Such a big man will change his dynasty sooner or later.
If he raises his eyebrows, he might be the new emperor.
Huangpu Song: "The archers are ready to release arrows immediately within a hundred steps."
"Also, don't let these rebels build new bridges."
And after these Yellow Turban troops attacked cities and captured villages several times, they were no longer ordinary farmers and common people. They now cooperate tacitly, although they are not a well-trained army. But it is indeed much more powerful than ordinary people, and this time there are a full 200,000 siege troops.
The rest, at first glance, are the troops under the Yellow Turban Warriors led by Zhang Jiao. Although these armies do not have armor, they all have uniform clothes and are equipped with uniform equipment.
At a glance, you can tell that these talents are Zhang Jiao's core troops.
The Yellow Turbans who rushed up had already killed and injured hundreds of people before they reached the moat, but they also allowed them to successfully build a bridge to cross the river. All of a sudden, the pressure on the defenders on the city doubled. Fortunately, General Huangpu Song commanded well and was not afraid of danger.
Huangpu Song: "Come here, dip your hair in golden juice."
"For those enemies who are about to climb up, just use bows and arrows to shoot them at the nearest location."
"When the rebels gather under the city wall, just use fire attack."
As orders were issued one after another, the rebels' attack was finally slowed down. But the opponent's numbers were too many, although the Yellow Turban Army's battle losses were relatively large. But in fact, after three hours of siege, they only lost about 2,000 people.
But although our side has the advantage of the city wall, it is still the defensive side. But even so, they still lost nearly 500 people. Such battle losses were very large.
If we continue like this, we will officially attack the city tomorrow. It is estimated that this place cannot withstand even three days. The only way now is to wait for the arrival of reinforcements.
Huangpu Song: "Is there anyone in the city who can fight?"
"Now this is just the first wave of tentative siege by these rebels. Have you seen the elites of the other side who have not moved at all?"
"If we rely on us, we won't be able to defend Youzhou City at all."
At this time, the Yellow Turban Army outside had retreated and started cooking. In the afternoon, there will definitely be another wave of fierce siege, but Huangpu Song knows that they cannot relax now. Once they relax, the opponent will definitely not miss this opportunity.
Moreover, now the other party is what people want.
Liu Yan: "Master Huang, there is no one left to fight in the city."
"All the strong men are already providing us with equipment in the logistics department. We really can't spare any manpower."
"If we really need to squeeze out more manpower, there are still many thugs from all the aristocratic families in the city. The total number should be 1,500 people."
"But how can these people listen to our orders?"
After Huangpu Song heard this, he immediately cursed: "How long has it been, and they are still guarding their little inheritance."
"If we can't defend Youzhou City, then when the Yellow Turban Army comes in, they will be the first to die. What's the use of having money?"
"Go quickly and tell them. You can find people and food."
"The enemy led by General Lu Zhi is not far away to suppress the bandits. As long as we hold on for three days, we can at least wait until reinforcements arrive."
In fact, Huangpu Song himself did not know whether the army led by Lu Zhi was nearby. After all, Qingzhou has probably fallen now, because it is too far away from Luoyang.
Even though it has been more than a month since the imperial court sent troops, it has been more than three months since the Yellow Turbans uprising. The reason why he chose to resist the Yellow Turban Army in Youzhou City was because it was the most suitable place, because the previous states and counties had already fallen.
After listening to Huangpu Song's words, Liu Yan could only do what Huangpu Song asked. After all, if Youzhou City cannot be defended, then he probably won't survive.
Once the Yellow Turban Army led by Zhang Jiao breaks through Youzhou City, except for a very small number of people in the city who can be recruited by the Yellow Turban Army, most of the remaining people will become cannon fodder in this war.
Liu Yan: "I'll go right away, but if anyone doesn't follow, I'll kill them."
After Liu Yan finished speaking, he started to deal with the matter.
Under the city wall, Zhang Jiao looked at the elites of the Yellow Turban Army and ordinary people and said, "You are all people who have been born and died with me."
"I, General Tiangong, are definitely not a person who prefers one thing to another. It was just a tentative siege just now."
"But we lost two thousand brothers. Next, I hope that you can take down Youzhou City in one go and avenge our brothers."
"Now, there is enough food for everyone to eat. When we attack the city in the afternoon, whoever is the first to board the city gate will be the leader."
After some brainwashing by Zhang Jue, these people regarded Zhang Jue as a god.
Yellow Turban Army: "Follow General Tiangong to the death."
"Swear to the death to follow General Tiangong."
"Swear to the death to follow General Tiangong."
Huangpu Song saw these rebels becoming even more aggressive, but he had no choice. Moreover, the soldiers on his side don't even eat as well as the rebels.
There were only some coarse grains, and even the most basic vegetarian dishes were not enough to satisfy all the soldiers.
The most fundamental reason for this is that most of the food is in the hands of the nobles in Youzhou City, and before this, Yuan Shu had ordered Jia Xu and Cheng Yu to purchase most of the food in the Han Dynasty.
Yuan Shu himself had a part in why today's big men were suffering from hunger and cold. But it was mostly caused by corrupt officials in the imperial court, and the food Yuan Shu asked Jia Xu and Cheng Yu to buy was all made of real gold and silver.
And it has even raised the price, which is why many people are willing to sell their grain.
At this time, a Yellow Turban army of more than 200,000 people led by Zhang Bao on the other side had been defeated steadily by Lu Zhi and Zhu Jun, and was now leading the remaining Yellow Turban troops towards Zhang Jiao's side. Escape.
Looking at this cruel battlefield, there are still many people starving to death. Even Lu Zhi couldn't bear to say: "The corruption of the imperial court is caused by natural and man-made disasters."
But after he finished speaking, he continued to order the soldiers to gather all the corpses together and burn them, or bury them in the soil.
Avoid causing a larger-scale plague and causing more unnecessary deaths.
At this time, Zhu Jun rode up to Lu Zhi and said: "After this battle, although we are leading the elite of the Han Dynasty."
"But because these Yellow Turbans didn't know what magic they used, they became particularly unafraid of death."
"We also lost more than 20,000 people, and the announcement from Liu Yanfa, the governor of Youzhou the day before yesterday, has already reached other counties."
"So, our next top priority is Youzhou. I just hope they can defend Youzhou City, so that we can have a chance to catch all the thieves."
The battlefield is changing rapidly, and no one knows what will happen next. And although Zhang Bao was defeated, the main force of the Yellow Turban Army was still with Zhang Jiao and Zhang Liang.
