At dawn, golden sunlight streamed through the gaps in the tents, spilling onto the ground and glittering brightly.
In Julu, Hebei, countless displaced refugees had gathered in an open space, where a few shabby tents stood scattered about.
"Get up, get up! All of you, get up!" A Yellow Turban Soldier strode in and tossed over a dozen Yellow Turban Cloth Strips he was holding. "Put these on and gather at the Training Ground. The general has something to say." The refugees dared not hesitate. Each grabbed a strip and quickly tied it around his head. When they reached the Training Ground and lined up, the crowd stretched as far as the eye could see, shoulder to shoulder, every person wearing a yellow headband.
Before long, a dark-skinned, middle-aged man, eight feet tall, came into view. Behind him was a carriage being pushed by four Yellow Turban Soldiers. It looked quite heavy. The man climbed onto the raised platform at the Training Ground and called out, "Listen up! I am Yan Qing, a colonel under the Great Teacher of Virtue. I have been ordered to choose three thousand soldiers. Anyone willing can step forward and claim a battle blade."
One of the men asked, "We're all poor refugees who came to seek refuge with the Great Teacher of Virtue. Why should we become soldiers?"
Yan Qing replied coldly, "The court is unstable. The consort clan monopolizes power, and the eunuchs wield authority. The war against the Western Qiang has dragged on for decades, costing a fortune, while corvée labor and military service are crushing. On top of that, land is being consolidated into the hands of a few, and the people can barely survive. The Great Teacher of Virtue has received the decree of Old Immortal Nanhua and will restore