Reasons for the failure of Zhang Jiao, the leader of the Yellow Scarf Army

As for the reasons for the failure, there are several points. The first is the decentralization of power. The yellow turban insurrectionary uprising was a prepared uprising, and the rise of 36 parties at a time really showed great strength. But if we look at historical records and compare them with maps, we will find that these 300 thousand people are scattered in the vast area from Hebei to Jianghuai, and there are not many people at each point. At most, it can be concentrated in some central areas, which should be only between tens of thousands. If 300,000 people are in one place, it is estimated that the government will work harder, but when dealing with tens of thousands of people, the government should still have this ability. Followed by the mob. The yellow turban insurrectionary thief was originally a farmer, fisherman, craftsman and vendor. They are as powerful as Orion and as smart as fortune tellers or gods. Some of them have a little experience in fighting, and they are probably soft at first. Zhang Jiao and others may have ambitious and talented visions, but after all, there is no experiment, and the end of an armchair strategist is behind him. Once again, it is the bottleneck problem. If it is a peasant war triggered by a single spark, it is often difficult to attract the attention of the imperial court because of the weak strength of the rebel army at first, but once the imperial court attaches importance to it, 100 million troops will take turns to attack and encircle, and whether they can survive or not becomes the key to the success or failure of the uprising. The yellow turban insurrectionary failed to cross the bottleneck. They rose up, and because of their huge scale, they were immediately attacked by the court, and the rebels were not spared. It is conceivable that if they bear this round of blows, even if the losses are serious, those who don't know much about the military will learn from the battle, and the road ahead will be easy. The fourth is geography. The yellow turban insurrectionary is mainly located in Hebei plain, Henan province, and the geographical conditions are too simple. Look at the successful peasant uprisings in history. Li Zicheng is in Shangluo Mountain, Huang Chao is in Mount Tai, and the outlaw hero is in Dahongshan, Hubei Province. Even Liangshan described in the Water Margin has mountains and waters, and the terrain is complex. For the growing peasant army, the complex terrain means an extra chance to live. Once the war is tight, you must escape from the mountains. Without this condition, the Yellow Scarf Army can't afford to lose. The fifth is the ability of successors. If Zhang Jiao can get away with it, maybe the Yellow Scarf Army won't end in a hurry, but he is already dead. Chen Sheng died with Xiang Liang, Gao Xianzhi with Huang Chao and Gao Yingxiang with Li Zicheng, but the succession after the death of Zhang Jiao was useless. People recorded in history, such as Liu Pi and Guan Hai, often accommodate tens of thousands of people. If they can do something, they should also be able to do something in the chaos of the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Sixth. If we have to add a sixth one, we can only say that the uprising occurred at an inappropriate time, and the Han Dynasty was able to effectively organize forces to fight back.