Ch'ao clique
return to power when the mother of the young emperor Ho Ti (89-105) took
over the government during his minority: she was a member of the family
of Tou Ku. She was interested in bringing to a successful conclusion the
enterprise which had been started by members of her family and its
followers. In addition, it can be shown that a number of other members
of the "war party" had direct interests in the west, mainly in form of
landed estates. Accordingly, a campaign was started in 89 under her
brother against the northern Hsiung-nu, and it decided the fate of
Turkestan in China's favour. Turkestan remained firmly in Chinese
possession until the death of Pan Ch'ao in 102. Shortly afterwards heavy
fighting broke out again: the Tanguts advanced from the south in an
attempt to cut off Chinese access to Turkestan. The Chinese drove back
the Tanguts and maintained their hold on Turkestan, though no longer
absolutely.

9 _Economic situation. Rebellion of the "Yellow Turbans". Collapse of
the Han dynasty_

The economic results of the Turkestan trade in this period were not so
unfavourable as in the earlier Han period. The army of occupation was
incomparably smaller, and under Pan Ch'ao's policy the soldiers were fed
and paid in Turkestan itself, so that the cost to China remained small.
Moreover, the drain on the national income was no longer serious
because, in the intervening period, regular Chinese settlements had been
planted in Turkestan including Chinese merchants, so that the trade no
longer remained entirely in the hands of foreigners.

In spite of the economic consolidation at the beginning of the Later Han
dynasty, and in spite of the more balanced trade, the political
situation within China steadily worsened from A.D. 80 onwards. Although
the class of great landowners was small, a number of cliques formed
within it, and their mutual struggle for power soon went beyond the
limits of court intrigue. New actors now came upon the stage, namely the
eunuchs. With the economic improvement there had been a general increase
in the luxury at the court of the Han emperors, and the court steadily
increased in size. The many hundred wives and concubines in the palace
made necessary a great army of eunuchs. As they had the ear of the
emperor and so could influence him, the eunuchs formed an important
political factor. For a time the main struggle was between the group of
eunuchs and the group of scholars. The eunuchs