Seeing Zhang Jiao's words, Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang both breathed a sigh of relief.
[Liu Bang: Zhang Jiao, the group chat had been open for several breaths without a word from you. I thought something had happened to you-how are things on your end?] [Zhang Jiao: My apologies to you both... I am gravely ill and was asleep just now, so I was slow to answer.] [Liu Bang: Gravely ill? It isn't life-threatening, is it?] [Zhang Jiao: I am suffering from several illnesses at once, and I exhausted my vitality over the past fortnight. I have little time left.]
Was Zhang Jiao really going to die?
For a moment, Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang fell silent.
Then both thought of their own fates in the original course of history.
Zhang Jiao clearly received Old Zhu's warning, yet he still fell gravely ill and is about to die in Guangzong. Could our original endings be decreed by Heaven, impossible to change?
If so, after all the arrangements I've made, will I still die five years from now?
Inside Changle Palace, Liu Bang's brows knitted tightly.
During the previous group chat, he had learned that Han Xin, King of Han, had rebelled and defected to the Xiongnu last year, setting off a succession of rebellions by kings outside the imperial clan. Naturally, he would not sit idle.
First, he had made up his mind never to send Chen Xi to command the troops in Zhao-Dai.
But he still had to guard against the Xiongnu and Han Xin, King of Han, invading Dai that autumn. After much consideration and consultation with Xiao He and the others, he had sent Xiahou Ying to help Liu Xi and Zhang Ao drill and reorganize the troops of Dai and Zhao, beginning preparations against the Xiongnu now.
He had also written a letter in his own hand and dispatched a messenger to deliver it to Lu Wan, intending to summon him to Chang'an for a talk and to reminisce about old times.
Although he had not yet had a chance to ask Zhu Yuanzhang why Lu Wan would rebel, he believed that maintaining their friendship would greatly reduce the likelihood.
Even taking a step back, if Lu Wan already harbored rebellious intentions, he would not readily come to Chang'an. In that case, Liu Bang could prepare his response early.
But Lu Wan had only been the Prince of Yan for a year or two. The likelihood that he already wanted to rebel was exceedingly small...
In the Western Side Hall of the Hall of Heavenly Favor.
Zhu Yuanzhang, meanwhile, thought of how Zhu Xiongying, Empress Ma, and Zhu Biao had died of illness before him, one after another, in the original course of history.
Zhang Jiao is still going to die of illness. Has Heaven truly fixed our fates beyond changing?
Deep down, Zhu Yuanzhang was both pragmatic and superstitious-a rather contradictory combination.
Everything he had witnessed since childhood told him that mortals could never change what Heaven had decreed. He himself had been a cowherd and a beggar. Without the Mandate of Heaven, who would have imagined that he could end the chaos of the Late Yuan and establish Great Ming?
But then he wondered: had he truly founded Great Ming because he possessed the Mandate of Heaven?
After joining the Red Turban Army, he had first met Tang He and Xu Da, then won Guo Zixing's appreciation, and, more fortunately still, married Empress Ma.
Judging by those events alone, he certainly seemed blessed with good fortune.
But what about the time Guo Zixing had grown suspicious of him, and he had nearly frozen and starved to death in prison?
Had he not earned his standing in the Red Turban Army by staking his life on every stroke of the blade and thrust of the spear?
After raising his own force, had he not won the people's support and attracted heroes to his side because he led by example, enforced strict military discipline, and treated the common people well?
Then Zhu Yuanzhang remembered the times he had nearly died of hunger or illness while living as a wandering monk. He had survived solely through a stubborn refusal to yield or accept his fate. Now he could not help raising his head, as though he could see the sky through the hall's roof tiles.
His gaze gradually grew as stubborn as it had been in his youth.
Heaven, perhaps you truly did grant me some good fortune and help me establish Great Ming and become emperor.
But even so, isn't it going too far to snatch Xiongying, my wife, and Biao'er from my hands before their time?
This Mandate of Heaven-I, Zhu Chongba, refuse to accept it!
With that thought, Zhu Yuanzhang rose to his feet and swiftly typed into the group.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: Zhang Jiao, tell me exactly which illnesses you have. Or what symptoms you have, and which medicinal ingredients you can obtain.]
The eighth month of the Seventh Year of Guanghe.
Zhang Jiao lay on a plank litter-a simple walking carriage, similar to a sedan chair-carried by four Yellow Turbans Strongmen. Since the daytime sun was too fierce, Chu Yan had even rigged up a simple canopy for him.
Ahead of and behind him, the Yellow Turban Army stretched for several miles, moving slowly west across desolate fields.
They had left Guangzong two or three days ago, yet had covered only a little over forty li. The eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains were still more than a hundred li away.
Even that was the result of his repeatedly urging Zhang Liang and Chu Yan to make the column move faster. Otherwise, with elderly people, children, women, and plenty of household belongings among them, they would have moved even more slowly.
But a faster pace naturally meant greater suffering for sick men like him.
His complexion had visibly worsened since leaving Guangzong City, and his face had taken on an ashen cast.
He felt that, in this condition, he might not even live to reach the Taihang Mountains. Over the past two days, he had therefore spent his waking moments considering how to arrange matters after his death.
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's message, he guessed that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to diagnose his illness through the Rebel Army Group. Though grateful, he could not help smiling bitterly.
[Zhang Jiao: Brother Zhu, I am something of a physician myself, and I know my condition. It is all but incurable. Let us not waste your time or Emperor Gao of Han's.] [Zhu Yuanzhang: Zhang Jiao, are you going to accept your fate?]
Zhang Jiao was silent for a short while before replying.
[Zhang Jiao: Blue Heaven may truly be dead, but my death from illness is probably fated as well.] [Zhu Yuanzhang: Fated, my ass! If you surrender to fate so easily, why did you lead the Yellow Turbans to raise the banner of rebellion in the first place? Why not remain a tenant farmer and let others oppress and humiliate you?!] [Liu Bang: Well said, Old Zhu! Fated, my ass! Zhang Jiao, just tell us your symptoms. Old Zhu lives a thousand years apart from us, after all. Perhaps he has a way to cure you.] [Zhu Yuanzhang: I have already established a Medical Academy and gathered twenty or thirty renowned physicians in the capital. As long as your illness isn't incurable in my time, there is bound to be a way to diagnose and treat it!]
It was not that Zhang Jiao had no fear of death. He had simply believed that his illness had reached his very marrow and that no medicine could save him.
Now, after hearing Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bang's persuasion, his desire to live surged. He immediately "explained" each of his symptoms in the group.
Since he knew medicine himself, he understood his symptoms quite clearly and described them with considerable precision.
After recording everything, Zhu Yuanzhang called loudly, "Yunqi!"
Yunqi hurried in and answered with a bow, "Your servant is here!"
"Summon the crown prince at once!"
"Yes!"
Soon, Zhu Biao arrived.
Before he could salute, Zhu Yuanzhang handed him several sheets of paper bearing Zhang Jiao's symptoms and his own diagnosis.
"Go gather all the renowned physicians at the Medical Academy immediately. Have them devise a reliable course of diagnosis and treatment for these symptoms as quickly as possible."
"And have Dai Sigong, Xiao Jiuxian, and Lou Ying join the discussion as well. If the physicians cannot agree, use Dai Sigong's treatment as the basis!"
Zhu Biao glanced over the writing on the paper and asked curiously, "Father, whose illness is this...?"
Zhu Yuanzhang cut him off. "Do not ask questions. Get it done at once!"
Seeing this, Zhu Biao suppressed his curiosity, accepted the order, and withdrew.
Just as Zhu Biao was about to leave the hall, Zhu Yuanzhang remembered something and raised his voice again. "Tell those physicians that some of the terminology in that account comes from the Han dynasty. If they don't understand it, they can consult ancient texts."
"Understood, Father."
Zhu Biao grew even more curious about the account of symptoms. Once he left the Hall of Heavenly Favor, he rode toward the temporary quarters housing the renowned physicians...
In the group.
[Zhang Jiao: The group chat never stays open very long. I fear I won't be able to wait for Great Ming's renowned physicians to devise a treatment this time.] [Liu Bang: Zhang Jiao, your illness really has muddled your head. Even if the Rebel Army Group closes, don't we still have the Spacetime Letters? Old Zhu can simply write the treatment in a letter and send it to you.]
Though Zhu Yuanzhang treasured the Spacetime Letters, he felt that proving fate could be changed mattered more. He immediately gave a firm reply.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: Emperor Gao of Han is right. I will write it in a letter and send it to you.] [Zhang Jiao: Brother Zhu, though we are separated by a thousand years and have never met, you have already helped me so much. Now you are even willing to spend a Spacetime Letter on me. I truly do not know how to repay you...] [Liu Bang: Zhang Jiao, just remember Old Zhu's kindness. Stop going on and on like a woman. Rather than saying all that, tell us how many days have passed on your end and what the situation is now.] [Zhu Yuanzhang: Exactly. Tell us about the situation.] [Zhang Jiao: Seven days have passed here. On the night the last group chat ended, I arranged for elite troops to raid the Han Army's camps...]
After Zhang Jiao used several passages to explain what the Guangzong Yellow Turban Army had been through and their present circumstances, Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang both fell silent for a moment.
Two breaths later, Zhu Yuanzhang finally sent a message.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: I overlooked the fact that the Han Army had cavalry while the Yellow Turban Army did not. You were right not to lead the Guangzong Yellow Turbans north, but to seize the opportunity to head west into the Taihang Mountains instead.] [Liu Bang: With Zhang Jiao leading the Guangzong Yellow Turbans into the Taihang Mountains, I fear it will be difficult for him to accomplish anything major in the short term?] [Zhu Yuanzhang: Correct. In truth, overthrowing Later Han at that time was already extremely difficult. Better to build up strength in secret, wait until the warlords begin fighting one another, then emerge from the Taihang Mountains and seize Bingzhou.]
Both Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao wanted to ask something after reading this, but then they saw the Administrator's message.
[Administrator: The "Rebel Army Q&A" segment is about to begin. Correct answers will be rewarded, and incorrect answers will be punished. Group members, please prepare yourselves!]
Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang immediately gathered their thoughts. Even the gravely ill Zhang Jiao roused himself-he was now quite worried about answering incorrectly.
If he acquired another harmful debuff, he might breathe his last before Zhu Yuanzhang's treatment ever arrived.