The fine rain fell incessantly; the autumn in Yanzhou was always rainy.
As dawn broke, countless Yellow Turban soldiers spontaneously emerged from their camps to look at the stones in the village.
As expected, many more stones had grown, and they had become larger, clearly resembling steles breaking through the earth…
What met their eyes, beneath the character "Tian" (天), was another character. This character, upon its appearance, caused all the Yellow Turban soldiers to gasp in unison!
Those who were literate chanted the character – "Ming" (命)! The "Ming" in "Tian Ming" (天命 – Mandate of Heaven)!
In the eyes of the common farmers, the two words "Tian Ming" basically confirmed that the steles had descended from heaven, a divine guidance!
As it concerned divine guidance, everyone became nervous.
Concurrently, in other surrounding villages, Yellow Turban soldiers also discovered similar steles breaking through the earth, inscribed with the two characters "Tian Ming"!
One must remember, the last time steles descended from heaven, the sixteen characters divinely guided – "The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise. The year is Jia Zi, and the world shall be prosperous" – how many common people's fates did they change? Grand Storm Novel.
It was no exaggeration to say that, to a certain extent, it had changed the fate of the Han Dynasty!
And now, more than ten years later, many steles had indeed grown from the ground. Although there were still only two characters, the mere words "Tian Ming" were enough to awe people.
With such a major event, witnessed by so many Yellow Turban soldiers, it was impossible to keep it secret. Within a day, the entire Yanzhou knew, and discussions were rampant… everyone was speculating what the next characters on the steles would be?
This time…
The Yellow Turbans chose to set up their camps in these villages and completely sealed off the surrounding areas for miles. No one from the nearby populace was allowed to leave their homes, nor to go anywhere else.
Another day passed. The steles rose again by another section, and the third character emerged – "Gui" (归)…
Thus, the three consecutive characters, joined together, formed "Tian Ming Gui…" (天命归…).
Gui what?
All the Yellow Turban soldiers were so tense they could barely breathe. Divine guidance… the next character was exceptionally, extraordinarily crucial. Almost all the Yellow Turban soldiers stayed awake all night, guarding the steles.
It was no exaggeration to say that ever since the Taiping Dao was destroyed and the Yellow Turban Uprising was quelled twice, they, the dormant Yellow Turbans, had lived a very difficult life, dragging their families along…
Although they often roamed through Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Yanzhou, engaging in battles with government troops, making the provincial governors and prefects miserable.
In reality, their lives were also very miserable… enduring wind and rain, sleeping in the wilderness, eating one meal a day if lucky… these strong men were alright, but what about the women, children, and the elderly among them? They suffered alongside them.
If not for the faith in the Taiping Dao that they still held in their hearts, they would have collapsed long ago.
And now, these inscriptions, this new divine guidance, had arrived at the perfect moment… Should they persist, or should they give up? What was the path forward? They desperately wanted to know.
This was already the fifth day since the steles were discovered… On this day, it rained heavily, much more densely than in the previous days.
The soil around the entire steles had become soggy.
But… even in the rain, a large number of Yellow Turban soldiers appeared around the steles!
Indeed, the steles grew again… not only the fourth character, but even… the fifth and sixth characters appeared simultaneously.
– "Cao" (曹), "Huang" (黄), "Tian" (天)!
When connected, it read – Tian Ming Gui Cao, Huang Tian… (天命归曹，黄天…)
This…
Let alone the characters that followed, just the first four characters, "Tian Ming Gui Cao," were a bit…
And also on the afternoon of the fifth day, the steles grew out again, revealing the final two characters. At this point, all eight characters on the entire stele were fully revealed.
"Quick, look, there are eight characters in total!"
A Yellow Turban soldier exclaimed…
Everyone looked towards the steles, their eyes full of anticipation and longing.
Soon, exclamations erupted from the crowd.
"This is new guidance from the heavens for us…"
"Tian Ming Gui Cao, Huang Tian Yi Fu!" (天命归曹，黄天既覆!)
The Yellow Turban soldiers saw the speaker. It was none other than the few literate elders among the Yellow Turbans. His son was a local leader, hence his words were convincing enough for people to believe.
Thus… even though a large number of Yellow Turban soldiers, women, children, and the elderly were illiterate, they now knew what the eight characters on the heavenly steles read!
Therefore, led by the Yellow Turban leaders, they all knelt down towards the steles in unison.
Gazing at the eight characters, described as "powerful and magnificent," they shouted in unison.
"Tian Ming Gui Cao, Huang Tian Yi Fu!"
"Tian Ming Gui Cao, Huang Tian Yi Fu!"
"Tian Ming Gui Cao, Huang Tian Yi Fu!"
More and more people joined this outcry. In an instant, their eyes were no longer lost or bewildered; they were filled with hope.
Tian Ming Gui Cao, Cao, wasn't this the "Cao" of the Yanzhou Governor… Cao Cao!
No wonder their more than three hundred thousand Yellow Turbans couldn't do anything to the mere few thousand of Cao Cao…
No wonder Yanzhou had the weakest military force, yet it was the hard bone that the Yellow Turbans could never bite through…
No wonder some local farmers in Yanzhou, especially in Dunqiu County, Puyang, were willing to die rather than join the Yellow Turbans, because Cao Cao had served as a county magistrate here!
They understood. In an instant, all the Yellow Turban soldiers, women, children, and the elderly understood. This was all the will of heaven. The Yellow Heaven had already fallen, and it was Cao Cao who would guide them forward and lead them to a better life!
How could they go against the will of heaven?
…
Listening to the cries of "Tian Ming Gui Cao, Huang Tian Yi Fu!" from these hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers.
Huu…
Standing on a nearby hillside, Cao Cao, disguised as a common farmer, took a deep breath, his spirits high.
Speaking of which, the four characters "Tian Ming Gui Cao, Huang Tian Yi Fu" inscribed on the stele were something he had thought about for a long time, much more so than the "return what is given with what is given" on the stele Lu Yu had given him.
But, upon hearing this thunderous roar, Cao Cao's heart could not help but be filled with surging emotions.
As for Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan, and Li Dian, they were all dumbfounded…
What in the world was going on?
First, a stele emerged from a wooden basin sent by Lu Yu, and then steles broke through the earth near the villages where the Yellow Turban camps were stationed.
Could it be that all these miraculous events were happening at once?
It was no wonder the three of them were so bewildered. Among the Cao camp, only Cao Cao and Cao Xiu knew about this matter. If Lu Yu in Chenliu Commandery was counted, it was only three people.
Cao Xiu had done an excellent job with this task, keeping it extremely secret and achieving great results!
Without a doubt, the Yellow Turbans would spend all night discussing how to submit to Cao, right?
Hahaha, hahaha… Thinking of this, Cao Cao couldn't help but burst into laughter.
When he thought about it carefully, it had only been twenty days since he discovered Lu Yu, but the situation in the entire Yanzhou had undergone a complete reversal. First, the battlefield situation was reversed, and now… the great reversal of three hundred thousand Yellow Turbans surrendering at the sight of them.
This was a great comeback!
Who would have thought that a month ago, Cao Cao, whose troops were pitifully few and who was routed by the Yellow Turbans, would at this moment… become the recipient of "Tian Ming Gui Cao"? At this moment, he had risen!
With this in mind, Cao Cao loudly commanded.
"Issue an order, we will immediately return to Chenliu Commandery…"
"We will wait in Chenliu Commandery for the envoys of these moths to come and beg for surrender!"
As these words left his mouth…
Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan, and Li Dian looked at each other, then spoke in unison.
"Yes…"
At this moment, their expressions could be summarized by this sentence – I don't understand, but I am greatly shocked!
…
…