The moment the crimson arrow appeared on the light screen's map, pointing straight at Chang'an, silence fell over the Hall of Sweet Dew.
No one spoke.
This was an event more than two centuries in the future, and yet—watching a force that had once been dismissed as a minor irritation repeatedly escape annihilation, only to grow stronger and strike back harder each time—left even these hardened statesmen with a suffocating sense of helplessness.
Li Shiji was the first to break the silence. His voice carried naked killing intent.
"These pacification governors who accepted bribes and allowed bandits to grow under their watch—every last one of them deserves death."
It was not merely anger. It was a declaration of loyalty.
This sort of rot was taboo to even acknowledge. Li Shiji had no intention of letting the failures of future generations plant doubts in the emperor's heart.
Yet even as he sat back down, he couldn't suppress a strange thought.
To fear being implicated by rebels who hadn't even been born yet—this might truly be unprecedented in history.
Li Shimin waved a hand, signaling him to sit, then sighed softly.
"But this is what I don't understand," the emperor said. "Huang Chao had already been defeated—twice. How did he suddenly gain the strength to charge straight into the capital region?"
Wei Zheng stepped forward and bowed.
"Because," he said quietly, "he declared that he would kill corrupt officials."
Li Shimin raised an eyebrow.
"Just that?"
Wei Zheng bowed deeply again.
"Does Your Majesty know that shrines to the Prince of Xia still stand in Hebei?"
Li Shimin said nothing.
How could he forget Dou Jiande—the man who had spoken of pacifying the people to stabilize the realm?
Wei Zheng continued, "In Hebei, the common people still speak of him. They remember how he punished corrupt officials fairly. Even now, they recall his virtue."
Li Shimin fell silent.
In his mind surfaced the statues in Chang'an engraved with the words: Water can carry a boat—and it can overturn it.
Huang Chao's slogan may have been calculated, but from another angle, how many among his followers had truly suffered under corrupt officials?
The answer was obvious.
A sharp pain struck Li Shimin's calf. He looked down to see Empress Zhangsun pursing her lips at him.
Only then did he realize Wei Zheng was still kneeling.
Li Shimin hurriedly stepped forward and helped him up.
"Xuancheng," he said, his voice sincere, "you truly are my mirror."
[ Lightscreen]
[Year 880. A turning point.
After escaping death through bribery and feigned surrender for the second time, Huang Chao captured Xuanzhou in late June.
In July, he crossed the Yangtze River and marched north.
In September, Sizhou fell.
In October—Shenzhou, Yingzhou, Songzhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou fell one after another.
At that point, within the Tang Empire, there was no force left capable of stopping him.
Huang Chao turned his army toward the capital.
When autumn comes, on the eighth day of the ninth month—When autumn comes, on the eighth day of the ninth month—
After my flower blooms, all others shall die.
In mid-November, Huang Chao captured Luoyang, the Eastern Capital of Tang. The officials left behind, led by the acting governor, Liu Yunzhao, came out to welcome him.
Huang Chao did not linger.
He rested briefly, resupplied, then immediately marched west.
On the first day of the twelfth month, he attacked Tong Pass.
Two days later, it fell.
Chang'an lay exposed.
On the third day, Huang Chao camped at Huazhou, near Mount Hua. That very night, an envoy from Emperor Xizong arrived with terms:
Huang Chao would be appointed Military Governor of Tianping.
Huang Chao refused without hesitation—but he spared the envoy and sent him back.
When the news reached Emperor Xizong, his face went ashen.
On the fifth day, after court concluded, the emperor fled.
Four sons. Several concubines.
Five hundred Divine Strategy troops.
Led by the eunuch Tian Lingzi.
They slipped out through the rear gate of the palace—Jinguang Gate—without a word.
History played a cruel joke.
In the late Western Jin, Sima Yue and Wang Yan abandoned their emperor and fled, leaving him to die in the capital.
Five hundred years later, the emperor himself ran first.
Panic spread through Chang'an.
Some fled.
More of the great clans chose to wait and watch.
That evening, the commander of the Metropolitan Guard, Zhang Zhifang, led the civil and military officials to Ba River to welcome their "loyal King Huang."
Fragrant clouds soar over Chang'an—Fragrant clouds soar over Chang'an—
The entire city clad in golden armor.
Upon entering Chang'an, Huang Chao began preparations to proclaim himself emperor.
After divination and selecting an auspicious date, he occupied Hanyuan Hall, declared himself emperor, named his state Great Qi, and adopted the reign title Jintong.
At that time, Huang Chao still harbored ambition.
His soldiers spread proclamations:
"The King Huang acts for the living. He is not like the Li clan, who neglect you. Return to your homes."
The Old Book of Tang even recorded instances of Huang Chao distributing wealth to the poor.
But after Emperor Xizong fled, authority was completely relinquished.
Regional governors, now free and motivated by profit, finally exerted themselves.
They quickly retook Xianyang and crossed the Wei River.
Huang Chao knew he could not hold Chang'an and withdrew.
For the people of Chang'an, what followed was unending catastrophe.
Government troops entered the city and immediately looted wealth and seized women and children. Street thugs donned armor and joined the chaos.
When Huang Chao learned of this, he sent elite troops on a night raid.
The government soldiers, burdened with stolen goods, were routed.
Chang'an changed hands again.
This time, Huang Chao was furious.
Enraged that the people had welcomed the "royal army," he allowed his men to massacre the city.
Chang'an ran red.]
Li Shimin read aloud the lines that appeared next.
His voice was hoarse.
"Dancers and singers vanish into darkness,
Infants and young girls abandoned alike…"
He continued, forcing the words out.
"Perfumed powder dies beneath the blade.
Bodies torn apart in the blink of an eye."
In times of chaos, women suffered first.
Though separated by three centuries, they were still Tang subjects. Still his people.
Girls who had once slept safely under their parents' roofs. Who had listened to stories of the glorious Tang before bed. Who had dreamed of a future where the empire would recover.
That future never came.
Their lives ended here.
Who should be cursed?
Who should be hated?
Li Shimin felt his chest tighten, a metallic sweetness rising in his throat.
"Vermilion gates collapse, half gone.
Brocade halls burn to ash."
For the first time, he felt a twisted sense of satisfaction.
So this is the Tang you wanted?
A realm ruled by great clans, stacked with ministers and generals?
He had built the Tang without relying on them.
They had drained the people dry and hoarded everything behind red gates.
Then let those gates be painted—
With their own blood.
"Vaults burn into embroidered dust.
On Heaven Street, bones of nobles are trampled."
And then—emptiness.
The Tang he had raised from Taiyuan ended here.
Granaries once emptied to save the people became ash.
Heroes who rode and reformed were gone.
Only mediocrities remained—trampled into the dirt at the end.
Li Shimin sank onto the couch, staring at the familiar ceiling of the hall.
"Your Majesty, if you are tired—" Empress Zhangsun began.
"Let us record it for you," Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui said gently.
Li Shimin shook his head.
"I can endure it."
He tried to smile but failed.
"Seeing chaos, one blames emperors and corrupt officials—and thinks they deserve early ruin."
"But seeing my Tang people suffer… I only want to erase a little more disaster. Use a few more methods."
"Even if this prosperity could last five or ten years longer—
Wouldn't these girls have lived in peace just a little longer?"
Empress Zhangsun clasped his hands in both of hers.
Strength passed silently between them.
Li Shimin rose, went to his desk, and began copying the poem.
He would hang it in this hall—
As a warning to himself.
[ Lightscreen]
[Huang Chao's end was unremarkable.
Once Emperor Xizong fully surrendered authority, the governors grew unstoppable. The era of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms began.
Huang Chao was driven from Chang'an again, fled east, and collapsed in defeat—eventually leaving behind records of cannibalism.
The Old Book of Tang (written by the Later Jin) focuses on his battles with little mention of atrocities until his retreat.
The New Book of Tang (written by Song Dynasty scholars) depicts him as a marauding monster from the start. Given that the Song Dynasty scholars despised the Later Jin (who ceded the Sixteen Prefectures), they often manipulated these records.
Whether the cannibalism was as widespread as claimed is debated by historians, as the descriptions often seem written by people who knew nothing of military logistics or farming
Yet even so, the fact that Huang Chao could traverse the realm and enter Chang'an proved how rotten the late Tang truly was.
Feudal society devours people.
Whether with teeth—or with systems.]