The next ten-odd days were anything but tranquil, yet they were also exceedingly peaceful.
The unrest was for the coalition of lords and Dong Zhuo's army.
On January 15, 190 CE, the first year of Chuping, Yuan Shao and the other lords jointly drafted another proclamation calling for the suppression of traitors. They dispatched swift messengers throughout the Divine Land to announce it to all under heaven. Unlike the previous proclamation, this one contained eight additional characters. Which eight? Precisely those inscribed upon the Imperial Seal of the Realm: "Having received the Mandate of Heaven, may it live long and prosper forever." With that, the proclamation became a genuine imperial edict to suppress traitors.
For a time, the realm was shaken, and public indignation ran high!
History seemed to repeat itself endlessly. How similar this scene was. Back during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, when Emperor Ling sat on the throne, an imperial edict had been issued to the realm, calling upon the various provinces and commanderies to raise troops against the rebels. That had been He Jin's idea. At the time, that edict had indeed saved the Han Dynasty, which was already nearing its sunset. Yet no one knew it was merely drinking poison to quench thirst. To suppress the Yellow Turbans, vast military forces had sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain, and afterward they became impossible to control. That edict had saved the Han Dynasty, but it had also opened the curtain on the division of the land among rival warlords.
And now, Yuan Shao had offered Emperor Xian the same counsel. After "deliberation" by the many exceedingly shrewd lords, Emperor Xian—isolated and weak, yet eager to defeat the traitor Dong Zhuo and reclaim Luoyang—finally agreed to stamp the Imperial Seal of the Realm upon the proclamation. No