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The Han armies gained victory at high cost. Over wide areas the offices of the government had been destroyed, magistrates had been killed, and whole districts were cut off from the writ of the central government. Rebel deaths numbered in the hundreds of thousands, while many noncombatants had been left homeless or destitute by the wars, and the economy and society over great parts of this most populous region of the empire were left in ruins and without resources. "Eventually, the Wu army suffered a crushing defeat, many of its men died from starvation..."-12 Unrest remained and bandits appeared in every district; the government, in no position to put down all the lesser disturbances, was forced to patch up the situation as best it could. A long period of consolidation was needed to restore some measure of peace and prosperity, but that breathing space was not given. While the rebellion was eventually defeated, the military leaders and local administrators gained self-governing powers in the process. This hastened the collapse of the Han dynasty in 220.
12. Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historians, (Columbia, New York, 1993)
12. Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historians, (Columbia, New York, 1993)