Why China Fell Into Warlord Division After Dong Zhuo

In the previous episode, Wang Yun persuaded Lü Bu to assassinate Dong Zhuo at the palace gate.

Chang'an celebrated for a moment. Then the court faced a harder fact: Dong Zhuo was dead, but Dong Zhuo's Liangzhou army was still alive.

The Liangzhou Army Panicked First

The main Liangzhou force was stationed east of Chang'an around Shan County.

Dong Zhuo's son-in-law Niu Fu had been an important figure in that army. Since Dong Zhuo had no adult son, many old followers looked to Niu Fu as a possible successor. But Niu Fu became suspicious, trusted shamans, killed some of his own officers, and triggered mutiny. He was killed by his own men.

With Niu Fu dead, middle and lower officers grew terrified. If the Grand Preceptor had been killed, would the court now purge everyone who had served him?

At first, many did not want rebellion. They wanted amnesty. If Wang Yun guaranteed their safety, they were ready to submit.

The court needed to convince armed men that they still had a road to life.

Wang Yun and Lü Bu Began to Split

Right after Dong Zhuo's death, Lü Bu urged Wang Yun to kill Dong Zhuo's followers as well.

Wang Yun refused, saying they were not necessarily guilty. Lü Bu then suggested distributing Dong Zhuo's wealth to ministers and commanders. Wang Yun refused that too.

Wang Yun looked down on Lü Bu as a mere warrior and did not want him interfering in government. Lü Bu, who had personally killed Dong Zhuo, believed his merit was enormous and spoke boastfully.

The two men had worked together, but once Dong Zhuo died, the crack opened.

Wang Yun also wavered over the Liangzhou troops. He first discussed issuing an amnesty, then hesitated. No timely pardon went out.

The soldiers waited for one document. The more Wang Yun delayed, the more frightened they became.

Disbanding the Army Made Fear Worse

Wang Yun then ordered Dong Zhuo's old troops to disband.

Some advised a safer plan: appoint Huangfu Song to command the Liangzhou army, keep it stationed at Shan County, and calm it gradually. This would change the hand holding the knife instead of throwing the knife into panic.

Wang Yun refused.

He worried that if Dong Zhuo was dead yet Liangzhou troops still held the passes, the eastern lords would suspect the court. So there was no clear amnesty, and there was also an order to disband. Rumors spread that the court planned to kill all Liangzhou people.

The army chose self-preservation.

Cai Yong's Death Deepened the Fear

Then came Cai Yong's death.

When Dong Zhuo was killed, Cai Yong happened to be at Wang Yun's residence. Hearing the news, he sighed. Cai Yong had been forced into Dong Zhuo's court, but Dong Zhuo had treated him with unusual respect. The sigh was complicated, not necessarily political loyalty.

Wang Yun was enraged. Dong Zhuo was a traitor, he argued; how could a Han minister grieve for him? Cai Yong was imprisoned.

In prison, Cai Yong asked to suffer punishment but be spared death so he could finish the history of Han he was writing. Many scholar-officials pleaded for him, saying his knowledge of institutions was rare and his offense small.

Wang Yun would not allow it. Cai Yong died in prison.

Scholars mourned him. Liangzhou soldiers drew the obvious conclusion: if Cai Yong could die for a sigh, what would happen to men who had served in Dong Zhuo's army?

Jia Xu Urged Li Jue and Guo Si to Strike

Li Jue and Guo Si emerged as leaders among Dong Zhuo's old forces.

They sent envoys asking for pardon. Wang Yun answered that there could not be two general amnesties in one year.

Frightened, Li Jue and Guo Si considered dismissing their troops and fleeing alone.

Jia Xu stopped them. If they abandoned their army, he said, a single village officer could arrest them. Better to unite, march on Chang'an, avenge Dong Zhuo, and if successful hold the emperor to command the realm. If they failed, they could still flee.

They accepted the advice.

At first they had only several thousand men. Along the road, Dong Zhuo's old followers and Liangzhou people joined. By the time they reached Chang'an, their force had grown to over one hundred thousand.

Chang'an Fell Again

Wang Yun still misread the danger.

He summoned local leaders from the Liangzhou region and asked them to explain the misunderstanding to Li Jue and Guo Si. But he called them "eastern rats" and treated them with contempt. When these men met Li Jue and Guo Si, they urged faster action instead.

Chang'an was surrounded. On the eighth day of the siege, soldiers under Lü Bu defected and guided the Liangzhou army into the city.

Li Jue and Guo Si allowed looting. Lü Bu fought and failed, then fled with a few hundred horsemen. He carried Dong Zhuo's head on his saddle and met Wang Yun near the gate, urging him to leave.

Wang Yun refused. The emperor was young, he said, and depended on him. If he fled at danger, he could not bear it.

Lü Bu left alone.

Wang Yun Died, and Emperor Xian Was Captive Again

After entering Chang'an, Li Jue and Guo Si killed more than ten thousand officials and civilians.

Wang Yun helped Emperor Xian escape to the Xuanping Gate. Below the wall, the Liangzhou leaders bowed and claimed Dong Zhuo had been loyal but murdered by Lü Bu. They said they only wanted revenge and would submit to punishment afterward.

They demanded that Wang Yun answer for Dong Zhuo's killing.

Wang Yun descended and was seized. Days later he was killed, his body dragged into the market, and his family also killed.

Emperor Xian had escaped Dong Zhuo only to fall into the hands of Li Jue and Guo Si.

The Eastern Lords Did Not Rescue the Court

Later readers often blame Wang Yun as a scholar who mishandled military men.

There is truth in that. He failed to settle Dong Zhuo's old troops, despised Lü Bu, killed Cai Yong, and underestimated the terror of men fighting for survival.

But where were the eastern lords?

Yuan Shao did not recognize Emperor Xian and was busy fighting Gongsun Zan. Yuan Shu had broken with Yuan Shao. Liu Biao entered Jingzhou in disguise because Yuan Shu blocked the roads. Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian against Liu Biao, and Sun Jian died in an ambush while pursuing Huang Zu.

The general who had truly struck Dong Zhuo's forces did not die at Dong Zhuo's hands. He died in the warlords' struggle for territory.

Elsewhere, Gongsun Du built a semi-independent regime in Liaodong. Tao Qian held Xuzhou. Liu Yan cultivated autonomy in Yi Province. Zhang Lu's Five Pecks of Rice movement seized Hanzhong and cut roads between Yi Province and Chang'an.

The anti-Dong Zhuo coalition had claimed to save the state. After Dong Zhuo's death, no one restored the court.

Dong Zhuo died, and Eastern Han did not return to peace. The next episode turns to Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, as a small group on the margins begins entering the age of warlords.