Three Kingdoms: Ten Times Speed, Diao Chan Says I'm Too Fast

"Sit down and let's talk," Duan Yu said, gesturing to the seats on either side.

Jia Xu sat down to the side, while Liu Baitu took out a wax-sealed bamboo tube from his bosom.

Tie Shitou took the bamboo tube and handed it to Duan Yu.

Duan Yu put down his chopsticks and then opened the wax seal on the bamboo tube.

Inside was a secret letter.

A secret letter written in pinyin using a code word from the Military Affairs Bureau.

On the back of the secret letter, there is also a cicada-shaped seal.

"My lord, this is intelligence obtained by Luoyang Chunchan," Liu Baitu said.

Duan Yu nodded as he opened the letter.

The cicada in spring is not referring to a person or an organization.

It was a mission code name.

The mission was codenamed "Spring Cicada".

Last winter, Duan Yu ordered Liu Baitu to begin infiltrating Luoyang through the Military Affairs Bureau, with the main purpose of obtaining intelligence.

Intelligence is arguably the most crucial element during wartime.

As a modern person, I naturally understand the importance of intelligence.

A single piece of reliable intelligence can often easily turn the tide of a battle.

Just like the Battle of Guandu, the Battle of Red Cliffs, and the Battle of Yiling, these are classic battles that established the lasting power of a region.

These battles, on the surface, appear to be heroic generals charging into battle.

But behind the scenes, countless people engaged in intelligence work are silently contributing to this effort.

The Secretariat of the Cao Wei dynasty, the Military Council of the Shu Han dynasty, and the Camp for Relieving Troubles of the Eastern Wu dynasty.

These are the intelligence departments of various major powers.

This was also Duan Yu's original intention in establishing the Military Affairs Office.

"Spring Cicada" is a code name for an infiltration and intelligence gathering operation.

The cicada hides underground, dormant for three years, and then bursts forth with a single move, its song echoing in all directions.

Three months have passed since the launch of Operation Spring Cicada.

It can only be described as having achieved some success.

But Duan Yu was still somewhat shocked after seeing the intelligence he had obtained.

The intelligence came from Yuan Wei's residence as Minister of Works.

"As Lord Jun previously instructed, we should pay close attention to news about the Way of Peace. This news was obtained from the Situ residence."

“A few days ago, a Taiping Dao follower named Tang Zhou went to Yuan Wei’s residence. This person must have a high status in the Taiping Dao.”

"After entering the Situ Mansion, this person told Yuan Wei about the whereabouts of a Taiping Dao believer named Ma Yuanyi."

"According to the investigation, this man named Ma Yuanyi was a disciple of Zhang Jiao, the Great Master of the Way of Great Peace, and frequently operated in the Luoyang and Yingchuan areas."

That very night, Yuan Shu, the General of the Tiger Army, captured Ma Yuanyi in a private residence east of Luoyang and also seized the Taiping Heavenly Book that Ma Yuanyi was carrying.

As Liu Baitu explained, Duan Yu looked at the contents of the secret letter.

His brows furrowed in disapproval.

its not right!

This is completely wrong!

Duan Yu knew who Tang Zhou was.

He knew who Ma Yuanyi was.

Historical records indicate that Zhang Jiao originally planned to launch the uprising on the fifth day of the third month.

However, due to Tang Zhou's betrayal, the leader Ma Yuanyi was arrested in Luoyang, and the uprising had to be brought forward.

Tang Zhou betrayed Zhang Jiao... but how could he have been in contact with Yuan Wei?

Regarding the Taiping Dao matter, Yu has been gathering intelligence from various sources over the past few months.

After all, this is Season 1, a time for many warlords to gain experience during the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei, Sun Jian, Gongsun Zan, Cao Cao... all gained the most valuable experience in this momentous uprising.

Duan Yu was bound to participate in this battle.

Therefore, he began making thorough preparations last winter, starting to gather various intelligence on the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

However, the more information Duan Yu gathered, the more he felt something was amiss.

First of all.

Zhang Jiao has been preaching for over ten years.

Taipingdao also prospered for more than a decade.

It's no exaggeration to say that everyone in the world knows about the Way of Peace; there's no one who doesn't know about it.

Moreover, Duan Yu discovered that there were quite a few people, both inside and outside the court, who believed in the Way of Peace.

Not to mention Zhang Jiao's stronghold in Ji Province.

The intelligence gathered by Jia Dong from Jizhou showed that Taiping Dao was a household name in Jizhou.

In Luoyang, at the imperial court, the emperor could not possibly be unaware of it.

In fact, Liu Hong had known about the Way of Peace for a long time.

It wasn't just Liu Hong who knew.

The Way of Great Peace was created by Zhang Jiao based on the "Taiping Jing".

The contents recorded in this book, "Taiping Jing," were presented to Emperor Shun of Han by a man named Gong Chong fifty or sixty years earlier.

Specifically, the contents recorded in the Taiping Jing are all about how to assist the Han Dynasty and revive it.

Gong Chong's teacher was Yu Ji, the author of the Taiping Jing.

This man later treated the sick and saved lives in the Kuaiji area, but was later killed by Sun Ce on the grounds that he was spreading heretical rumors and misleading the masses.

Yu Ji and Gong Chong were both from Langya, Xuzhou.

It is also a famous Huang-Lao school of thought among the Hundred Schools of Thought.

As is well known, the Huang-Lao school of thought flourished most during the late Qin and early Han dynasties.

The three core points of Huang-Lao philosophy are 'self-cultivation', 'governance', and 'practical application'.

Self-cultivation is about cultivating one's character and temperament, and achieving longevity and long life...

The main focus of governance was on allowing the people to rest and recuperate, and on non-interference in governance.

Practical application means encouraging and recommending inventions and creations.

The *Taiping Jing* (Scripture of Great Peace) was born from the combination of these three points.

Later, Zhang Jiao obtained the book. Some say it was passed down to him by Yu Ji, while others say it was obtained by Zhang Jiao by accident.

Regardless, Zhang Jiao established the Way of Great Peace based on the Taiping Jing.

According to intelligence brought back by Jia Dong from Jizhou, everyone in Jizhou knew about the Taiping Dao.

However, the government and officials never prohibited or hindered Zhang Jiao's spread of the word.

According to word of mouth among the people, Zhang Jiao's Way of Peace was a benevolent path that guided people toward goodness.

This made Duan Yu even more puzzled.

Given the power and influence of the Way of Peace, if they truly harbored any rebellious intentions, they would surely have been discovered.

For the past ten years or so, have all the officials of the Han Dynasty been blind?

It's impossible that all the officials in Ji Province were bribed by Zhang Jiao.

Three years ago, in the third year of Guanghe.

Grand Commandant Yang Ci wrote a memorial to the throne.

It's about the Way of Peace.

Back then, Yang Ci submitted a memorial to the emperor, saying that Zhang Jiao of the Taiping Dao was too powerful and suggesting that the court find ways to restrict him and arrest Zhang Jiao, but Liu Hong rejected all of his suggestions.

Just last year, Yang Ci wrote another letter requesting the arrest of Zhang Jiao, but Liu Hong still refused.

Duan Yu found the contents of the two letters rather strange.

Zhang Jiao was the Great Teacher of the Way of Peace, but he had no official title.

As the Grand Commandant, did Yang Ci need to ask Liu Hong for permission to arrest the leader of a civilian organization?

Given Yang Cisan's status, he could have simply given the order to do it.

Who is stopping Yang Ci?

Who caused Yang Ci to need to submit a petition for permission to arrest Zhang Jiao?

Duan Yu remembered that before he traveled through time, there were some rumors that Zhang Jiao was backed by the gentry of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

It was the gentry who pushed Zhang Jiao, and used Zhang Jiao to coerce Liu Hong.

Because of the disaster of the Party Prohibitions, the power of eunuchs became very strong.

In the fifth year of the Xiping era, the third persecution of the partisans occurred because Cao Luan, the prefect of Yongchang, wrote a letter to plead for the "partisans" and request the lifting of the imprisonment.

Liu Hong not only disobeyed, but also arrested and executed Cao Luan.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Hong issued another edict, declaring that all officials among the partisans' protégés, former subordinates, fathers, sons, and brothers who held official positions should be dismissed, imprisoned for life, and their five clans implicated.

The aristocratic families lost their official positions, and Liu Hong instead took these vacant positions and sold them.

If Duan Yu hadn't learned all this, he truly wouldn't have dared to imagine it.

To say that Liu Hong sold official positions and titles is to denigrate Liu Hong.

However, after learning all this, Duan Yu changed his mind.

The aristocratic families occupied official positions, exploited the blood and flesh of the Han people and the bones and blood of the common people, thereby strengthening their own families, without bringing any benefit to the country.

Instead, they formed cliques and pursued personal gain, growing increasingly powerful and suppressing imperial authority.

The disaster of the Party Prohibitions was less about eunuchs persecuting and suppressing the aristocratic families.

It's more accurate to say that the emperor used eunuchs to suppress the aristocratic families.

Since your aristocratic families control official positions and the government, then use the Party Prohibitions to restrain them.

In any case, these official positions were in the hands of the gentry, and selling them through protégés and former subordinates was a disguised form of selling.

In Duan Yu's current view, it's just that Liu Hong has gone to a more thorough level.

If your aristocratic families can sell, why can't the emperor?

Since I'm going to sell them anyway, I might as well sell them myself, Liu Hong.

Duan Yu could only sigh at the power of the river of time; some things, separated by too much distance, are not necessarily true even if they are recorded on paper.

However, being in the present moment, he sees some things a little more clearly now.

Liu Hong was definitely not an incompetent emperor.

In this grand game of the world, he was also a player, and the opponent sitting opposite Liu Hong was the gentry of the world.

Taiping Dao, Liu Hong, a member of the gentry.

Duan Yu tried hard to sort out the complicated relationships in his mind.

But I still feel like something is missing.

Something's not right.

Tang Zhou reported Zhang Jiao's plot to rebel after meeting with Yuan Wei.

What was Ma Yuanyi planning to do with the Taiping Heavenly Book he brought to Luoyang?

Furthermore, why did Yuan Wei want to obtain the Taiping Heavenly Book from Ma Yuanyi?