Prequel: The Rise of Liang Meng

Years: 195-199

Ling Ling was a city that was plagued with corruption for many years. People were homeless, poor, and almost ready for yet another rebellion against the Later Han Dynasty. However, a local man, Liang Meng stood up and began to take control. He joined as the prefect's agricultural adviser. He immediately found success. While the cities were poor and broken, the outlying fields showed prosperity, Liang Meng's life growing up with his farming family had paid off. Soon, glad with his success, the prefect appointed him civil adviser on top of agriculture. While it was much slower, it gradually pulled Ling Ling out of a depression and turned many people's opinions around about those who serve the empire.

However, the prefect, revitalized by his success in Ling Ling, began to enforce laws and taxes that Liang Meng didn't approve. The people once again grew restless. It wasn't as bad as it was before, but it wasn't good. The people were harshly beaten in the street if they didn't have the money and the deaths began to add up. Eventually, Liang Meng gathered the support of the mob and some soldiers, and overthrew the prefect. He sent a letter to the emperor to let him know what exactly had happened. It was a few months later before he got a response, but when he did, he was dumbfounded.

An envoy from the emperor himself and made his way, and announced aloud in the city square that Liang Meng was to be the new prefect of Ling Ling. He bowed graciously and made a pledge to serve the Han faithfully. He immediately appointed his close friend Yong Chou as his agricultural adviser. His son, who grew up studying the spear and leadership skills, took control of the newly formed militia and while only fourteen, showed himself to be a competent commander.

Year: 200

Liang Meng slowly solidified his power in Ling Ling. He once again brought Ling Ling out of the slump. He implemented taxes that, while frequent, were enough for the people to handle and brought in money constantly for his son's ever growing army. The militia, now formed into an army, grew from a meager group of five thousand, to twenty thousand strong, lead by Liang Xiu. Liang Meng knew that he needed to expand soon, and he appointed Yong Chou as his strategist. He then set out to find more personnel.

However, in the North, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao grew increasingly angry with each other, war teetering on the edge with Gongsun Du and Liu Bei caught in the middle. In the south, Sun Ce and Liao Biao begin a naval war. In the west, Ma Teng prepares for war against Cao Cao and Zhang Lu while Liu Zhang prepares to move south into Jiang Ning and Nanman. The empire was now at civil war.