Soldiers' Revolt

The Soldiers' Revolt was a civil war taking place in the Tianguese Empire during the late 7th Century. It pitted half the Imperial Tianguese Army against the other, and resulted in the defeat of Zhen Dynasty loyalists. After the war the throne went to Dali Wei, the leader of the rebel Army of the Stubborn Aurochs.

## Background

The Zhen Dynasty was never popular. From their initial coronation in 578, the Zhen emperors insisted on filling the court with their followers and purging dissent throughout their realm. Naturally, this was opposed fiercely by many Tianguese lords, but most of these were snuffed out by the efficient, disciplined Imperial Tianguese Army once their treason was discovered.

However, Emperor He Zhen made the mistake of naming the generals of his armies as the new lords, after deposing their rebellious predecessors. This forced the previously-neutral generals into the political intrigue, and gave them a stake at the table as well as power over significant portions of the army - the latter being something the rebellious lords had never had.

Over time, the generals of the outer regions began to see things from their subjects' points of view. Away from the echo chamber of the capital, they were turned and began to dissent. Eventually, ten years after Emperor He first granted land to General Fengxi Sho, the long-planned plot of the outer generals came to fruition.

## March on the Capital

The rebel generals agreed on a sign: 'The tenth day of Kangzen's Comet, the sparrows meet at the House of the Dancing Lily'. This referred to an inn on the road between Tangzihua and Pingxing, where four generals did indeed meet with their armies - fifty thousand men each. The only generals to oppose this rebellion were those who had not been granted land - Lianfi Hen and Dongzi Bao, along with Henhua Fong, who had been granted the fief of Guiliang near the capital.

The rebel army marched immediately on the eponymous city of Tianguo. It was opposed by the Army of the Soaring Eagle at the Battle of Kinglao in October 682 and by the Army of the Crimson Dragon and the Army of the Vigilant Hawk at the Battle of Fanrishan the following January. Both battles were decisive rebel victories, and the rebels arrived outside the gates of the capital in February 683.

The Siege of Tianguo lasted over a year, and resulted in the city being bloodily sacked when rebel forces scaled the walls in April 684. Emperor Gengxin was publicly executed in the palace square, along with his heads of state and the loyalist generals - who had taken shelter in Tianguo with their armies.

## Aftermath

After the bloody end of the revolt, General Dali Wei was raised up to be the new Emperor, on the recommendation of his fellow generals. His own army was taken off active duty and became a force of peacekeepers in the capital and its surrounds. The other generals remained heads of their own armies and also landowners, though a bill passed by Wei the next year forbade their sons from inheriting both. This made him instantly unpopular.

The city of Tianguo never really recovered from the chaos of the Soldiers' Revolt. Before the Siege it had a population of over two million; during the event over 30% of its population starved or were massacred during the sack. The country fell into decline as well, both as a result of the city declining and also the execution of most of the decent administrators in the capital. The post-Revolt government has been described by the philosopher Sei Hua as 'the most saddening den of brush-pushing primates as can be found'.