The short version of what happened before I start venting my sorrow:
Fired up the first ever 3K campaign for a game I had sitting for several years. I go for Mandate of Heaven to start early and try to keep the Han together (Remember that, important detail).
I pick up an "easy to start!" faction, Liu Chong. I get very decent and large province, a good general, a loyal friend and comrade and some nasty bandits to defeat for lots of mission money and experience. "Excellent!" I say. "It seems it will be indeed easy!" How funny that seems now...
Fast forward 5 failed campaigns later (read previous posts if you care), and using exploits, save-scumming and following guides to make it in that "Easy" mode, I finally made it. No, it is not a breeze but I am actually in a very good position. I am challenged but secure. The Han disintegration script has fired correctly, the Yellow Turbans are not on my doorstep with 4 armies while I have one etc.

Situation around turns 100-105:
- I have been kicked out of the coalition I was in by ####ing Cao Cao. I will remember that when the time comes. Don't you worry, you smug bastard...
No, seriously, that stung. I had fond feelings about the pixels that composed the pieces of code I was in a coalition with. Well, except of Cao Cao.
- I have two large self-made vassals and one small one*.
- The Yellow Turbans hold a lot of land, endless armies and they are very powerful, but manageable. (or so I thought. )
- Dong Zhuo has died by event as in the Romance stories.
- His sons, Dong Min and his brother had a nice civil war and I don't know if that was scripted or not.
- Dong Min has the Emperor captive and has a ton of favor from the Imperials.
- I am a financial superpower, thank's to the Emperor, that is my distant cousin BTW.**
How I got the Yellow Turbans contained:
- Thanks to the Emperor's 30% down to salaries, that he spams, and the money I get from defeating armies, I am rolling in cash.
- If 2-3 armies are wiped out (yes, it can happen, the YT are not a joke, they can take down 2 stacks + 3 extra heroes at times) I can quickly replenish them. Thanks to the Emperor, my buddy, my armies replenish very fast and I can recruit the forces at much lower prices (on top of the lower salaries).
- The Yellow Turbans, at war with half the map, are loath to make new enemies. So they do not attack the lands of my vassals! What that means is that I take land from the rebels, develop it a bit with the money I save from the Emperor and throw it at my vassals. When my vassals say "We would like to join you at this war, boss!" I tell them "No! You sit there, make money and give me my cut, while I fight from your lands." <== as a note, YOU CAN recruit forces if your armies are in the lands of your vassals and replenishment in a vassal's land is nearly as fast as in your own land.
- North China Members of my coal- sorry, former coalition, are fighting (and slowly losing) against the Yellow Turbans in different fronts. Dong Min (yes, I am was at the same coalition as the son of the tyrant and the guy in control of my buddy the Emperor. Don't judge me. He was strong and I need the favor of the Emperor) is getting the worst of it. I fight in the center of the huge area the Yellow Turbans control (after all, I hide inside my vassals so it's not an issue for me to be surrounded).
- I am the only one that makes gains. The Rebellion of the Yellow Turbans is losing ground where I fight with my 7 Emperor-supported armies and winning elsewhere. They had 44 settlements when I first headed North, went all the way to 53 and now hold 50. I have liberated over a dozen of settlements and they still hold 50.
- I finally, finally managed to extinguish one of the 4 core Yellow Turban factions AND I had one more of the brothers assassinated. Thus, there's only one of the Zhang brothers remaining with his ridiculous stats etc. The other brother's faction is still there but without their boss they are less of a threat.

* What I mean is that in 3K you can hand over some of your lands to an administrator and create a friendly vassal faction that will adore you. Will they betray me in the future? I have no idea but so far, they are loyal. I make more money from them through trade and vassal fees than if I held those areas. One of the vassals is the aforementioned loyal friend that gifted me an awesome crossbow at the beginning of the campaign. Really touching as our special units are crossbows and they start at +3 ranks (think silver chevrons in previous games) although chevrons in 3K are not as impressive as in RTW or M2TW.

** The Emperor, may he live forever, is absolutely awesome. I am talking about things like "Oh, I saw your food went to -1 for one turn. Here is a decree to force the other slackers to give you +10 food." And "I see you're running a kind of tab with those 7 armies fighting the Yellow Turbans. Here's a huge replenishment bonus and a -30% in the upkeep of your forces for 6 turns. And once those turns end, I will of course repeat that boon. And again."
There's something called "satisfaction" in this game. Similar to R2TW and Attila Mechanics but much better codified and understandable, it is how loyal your general is to you. Unlike M2TW loyalty is important in this game. The Emperor's favor gives a +10 satisfaction and a bonus to public order which helps a lot in freshly conquered regions and also a significant bonus to fight corruption, like -10% corruption or something. Corruption is the money you lose from the taxes etc.


and then...


Turn 106 and the reason I need to vent.


I hit end turn. I get a message:
Yellow Turbans successfully stormed the capital of Dong Min, where the Emperor was. The Emperor, my buddy, the reason I did so well and that I am swimming in cash, the reason I have generals with 100 satisfaction, the reason I have just 4% corruption despite being a large faction, the reason my vassals are not facing (many) rebellions in lands that are awash with Yellow Turban rabble-rousers ... is gone!!!!
Remember: I started the campaign with the goal to restore the Han and the Emperor. I have been trying that for 68 hours. And the Emperor has been stunningly awesome to me for the past 20 turns that he is around.
And now... he's gone. I frantically load the previous couple of turns hoping that something will go different. Again and again. But the result is the same every time. Dong Min's area is already beset with rebels while his forces have already been beaten by the Yellow Turbans or are fighting elsewhere. I am toooo far to do anything about it. I tried to give him more money and food thinking he may reduce taxes or hire more troops, but it didn't work. Nor it could, realistically, as the rebels were already gathering armies when I load and his forces are faaar from the capital. Trust me, I know. I have bribed a couple of his generals to act as my spies. I know where their forces are and at what state they are. His "good" force, Lu Bu is a deadly machine, is like 5 turns march from the capital, or more.

The Han Empire is truly, irrevocably gone at this point. The Yellow Turbans have not win the campaign (they have to take a specific city to fulfil that) but they have managed to overthrow the Han.
In two turns, the imba bonuses to my replenishment and the -30% to salaries will go away. The satisfaction bonuses are gone and now a couple of my generals are ... suspect (I am not the only one that can hire dissatisfied generals as spies you know...). Public order in a couple of my commanderies, in my heartland, suddenly took a dive and I could face rebellions in 7-8 turns. And my army is far far away. Which means I have to keep "an army slot" open so that I won't face the same fate as that idiot Dong Min that lost the Emperor.
LOST the Emperor!

Now, we're not Warlords of the Han fighting (opportunistically in many cases) to restore the Empire and raise in prominence with the new Han Empire. We're like those pesky European nations in M2TW. We have some common goals and stuff but nothing to unite us except our enemies. OK, it's not those barbarians in the holy land, but an insane rebellion in the North that threatens to swallow everything (and took the Emperor with it). But that's it.


Alas, I honestly feel the hit. I will miss the Emperor's huge bonuses . I suddenly feel like I kinda lost the campaign and I certainly lost my biggest benefactor in the game.
After I am done grieving I will probably go for what the game has been telling me to do since like turn 50: Make an Empire of my own. Why not at this point? The Han are dead. There WILL BE three kingdoms and the Han will not be one of them. Why not me?