The Han Court's disregard for the proclamation was something Luo Xiao had anticipated long ago.
He had never expected a single proclamation to make the emperor surrender outright. What emperor would dare surrender to a peasant army?
After the peasant uprisings of the Late Qin and the two peasant uprisings of the Former Han, the powerful trembled to their very core at the mere mention of a peasant uprising.
They would rather have other powerful men rebel and usurp the throne than have peasants rise up and overthrow them.
Luo Xiao was in no hurry to attack Luoyang. He was waiting for siege engines, waiting for panic to spread through Luoyang, waiting for the right moment.
The situation around Luoyang briefly settled into a standoff.
Some of the messengers who had previously rushed toward Chang'an broke free of the Taiping Army's encirclement and pursued Luo Kong, while others headed to Western Liang to find Dong Zhuo.
To help the Feudal Lords across the land recover as quickly as possible so they could come to his rescue, the emperor issued numerous edicts of enfeoffment to those he considered relatively loyal, appointing several provincial governors.
On the thousand-li road from Luoyang to Chang'an, the Western Regions Army marched without a moment's rest, its tall banners flying. Taiping Army troops had been spotted earlier, making Luo Kong nervous, but those small detachments soon dispersed, and he felt completely reassured.
Once they were several dozen li from Luoyang, Luo Kong finally set his mind at ease. He scattered scouts far and wide to keep constant watch for any pursuit by the Taiping Army, then resumed a normal marching pace to restore his army's fighting strength. Having suffered grievous losses, the Western Regions Army urgently needed reorganization, its personnel reassigned and its supplies sorted