Chapter 12 Chapter Three

Liu Bang took Xiao He and Cao Can as his main staff, Lu Wan as his attendant, Xia Houying, Ren Ao, Zhou Bo, and Guan Ying as his generals, and Fan Kuai, the most powerful, as his vanguard.Liu Bang ordered to attack Huling and Fangyu, and temporarily set the base camp in his hometown Fengyi. Chen Sheng Uprising, Chu People Respond In the autumn of the first year of Qin II, Chen Sheng, Wu Guang and others set up troops in Qi (now Shi, Anhui), and became the first people to formally fight against Qin with armed forces. Liu Bang was thirty-eight years old this year, and he still lived in hiding in the mountains.

Chen Sheng's power is actually not that great, but the tribes in Chu have always had the greatest aversion to the Qin imperial family, so they took the opportunity to kill the officials of the Qin Dynasty in various counties and counties, and responded to the uprising everywhere. Counties have become the scope of the rebels. " Wu Guang took the opportunity to recruit rebels from various counties, robbed granaries, and greatly increased his strength. By the time he entered Henan, he had six hundred chariots, thousands of horses, and tens of thousands of soldiers, forming a powerful army.Their goal is Chencheng, the capital of Chen State in the past.

Chen State was originally a feudal state of the descendants of Emperor Shun, and it was occupied by Chu State at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. In the last years, Ying, the capital of Chu State, was repeatedly attacked by the Qin army. After the unification of the Qin State, there was a county government here, and it was governed by the county guard. Although Chen Sheng's hometown, Yingchuan, is not in Chu, he took place in Chu, and most of his team members are from Chu, so he received warm support from Chen Cheng's elders.So the county guard did not dare to defend the city, and abandoned his post to escape. Chen Sheng successfully broke through Chencheng and established a military base here.

"Although there are three households in Chu, the death of Qin will lead to Chu. This is the "secret motto" popularized by Qin Shihuang in Chu in his later years, and it also symbolizes the strong consciousness of Chu people against Qin. Therefore, after Chen Sheng entered Chencheng, the leaders and elders of the Chu tribes all over the country immediately responded. One after another, they surrendered their sincerity to the Chen Sheng army that had seized the old capital of Chu, making Chen Sheng the chief leader of the anti-Qin Chu army overnight." Chen Sheng, who rebelled by chance, has grown in momentum and power like a snowball. I believe even he himself is very surprised.

"Is it really successful like this? Can I really become a self-reliant king as a commoner?" But after all, he is not a nobleman of the Chu State, and it is really difficult to get the approval of most of the tribal leaders and elders of the Chu State, so he had to consult the elders near Chencheng first. For Chen Sheng who expelled the Qin army and restored the state of Chu, the elders of Chen Cheng were in the midst of the incident, so naturally they fully supported him, so they said: "The general leads the army to fight in person, crusade against Wudao, expel the tyrant Qin, and re-establish the state of Chu, and he should be called king in terms of merit."

Marching into Xingyang, shaking half the country Chen Chengli has a large amount of food and weapons, but more and more legions from all over the country responded and surrendered to Chen Sheng. No amount of food is enough. , with poor grades. As time went by, the food problem became more and more serious. The refugees and small legions assembled from various places faced hunger, dissatisfaction and complaints arose, which made the emerging "Zhang Chuwang regime face serious challenges." Wu Guang warned Chen Sheng: "Depending on the situation, we have to attack Xingyang, the capital of grain."

However, Liangdu has always been heavily guarded, and it is not easy to attack. Xingyang is located in the east of Zhengzhou. Due to the confluence of rivers and rivers, it has been a grain gathering center since ancient times. There is also a road leading to Xianyang. It is the most important granary in the east. But the food shortage was so serious that Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had no choice but to take risks.Since Wu Guang had always been popular, everyone had to fight desperately if he came forward, so Chen Sheng named Wu Guang a "false king (acting king), and led the main force to attack Xingyang westward."

In order to reduce the pressure on Wu Guangjun, Chen Sheng also tried to launch multiple attacks to distract the Qin army.So Chen Guoren's military ministers were ordered to join Zhang Er and Chen Yu, the famous survivors of Zhao State, to lead an uprising in Zhaodi, while Deng Zong, a native of Ruyin, attacked Jiujiang County to create momentum. The county magistrate rebelled, and Liu Bang stepped forward Under Chen Sheng's all-out efforts to build momentum, there was a lot of turmoil in East China, and local officials everywhere were very nervous, and Pei County was no exception.

The county magistrate immediately summoned important cadres such as Xiao He and Cao Shen to discuss. In order not to be targeted by the revolution, the county magistrate deliberately betrayed the court and led the army to respond to Chen Sheng, but Xiao He objected: "You were originally an official of the Qin Dynasty, and you are a foreigner. Now that you want to betray the court, I am afraid that the soldiers from Pei County will not follow you." County magistrate: "Then what should we do?" Cao Shen: "It's better for Xiao He to give orders! I believe that the children of Pei County will listen to you."

Xiao He: "I'm also living on the court's salary, so I shouldn't come forward. It's better to call back the children of Pei County who are in exile. Let them lead the fight against Qin, and the safety of this county will be guaranteed." County magistrate: "Who can take on this important task?" Xiao He: "Liu Ji, the head of the pavilion in Sishui, once fled because of dereliction of duty as an escort. Now hundreds of people have gathered. Why don't you call him back and fight against Qin in his name, so that everyone will follow suit." The situation was urgent, and the county magistrate had no choice but to agree.

Xiao He immediately sent Fan Kuai to look for Liu Bang in the mountains. At this time, Liu Bang was leading hundreds of Peixian children who fled to the mountains to escape the pain of hard labor in the Qin Dynasty with his amazing strength.When they heard about Chen Sheng's uprising, they also intended to respond, but because they were small and weak, and lacked connections, they had to wait and see temporarily. Hearing the county magistrate's call, Liu Bang was overjoyed. He immediately packed his luggage, led his disciples, and rushed to the county seat. But Liu Bang really didn't believe that the county magistrate would abandon the county seat and let him lead the rebellion, so he sent Fan Kuai back first, contacting the elders of Pei County for internal response, and taking it if necessary. Sure enough, the county magistrate saw that Xiao He and Cao Shen had ambiguous attitudes and their actions were too active, fearing that it would be bad for him, so he ordered to stay behind closed doors and wanted to arrest Cao Shen and Xiao He. Kill the county magistrate and establish himself as Pei Gong When Xiao He saw Liu Bang, he immediately told him about the repentance of the county magistrate, and that the city gate had been closed, so a long-term plan may be needed. But Liu Bang only smiled and nodded, and motioned to move on. It turned out that Liu Bang ordered Fan Kui to return to the city early, and the "Liu Ji Party" who stayed in the city instigated the elders of Peicheng to instigate a mutiny. Since Xiao He, the main cadre in the county, has already stood in Liu Bang's camp, he has an absolute advantage in this battle." Xiao He saw that Liu Bang was quite capable of being a general after years of painstaking training, he was very happy in his heart, and he strengthened his confidence in choosing Liu Bang. When they got to the gate of the city, they saw that the gate had already been closed tightly and the guards were heavily guarded. Xiao He suggested that Liu Bang write dozens of books and silks himself, tie them to the tips of arrows and shoot them into the city, so as to activate the effect of political propaganda.Although most of the ejected scrolls were intercepted by the city guards and handed over to the county magistrate, a few of them were passed to the elders of Peicheng. The scrolls read: The people of the world have suffered from Qin's tyrannical government for a long time. Although the elders and the county magistrate share the responsibility of guarding the city, all the princes from all walks of life have risen to fight against Qin. Wherever the army arrives, Pei County will also be slaughtered. Disaster.Fathers and elders, how about responding to the rebel army, capturing and killing the county magistrate, and selecting the children of Peicheng as leaders to worship together, so as to stand on the same front with the princes from all walks of life, this is the way to protect the family and defend the city!Otherwise, the elders and children may die together, which is not worth it. The main purpose of this letter is to create conflicts between the county magistrate and the elders of Peicheng. As expected, the county magistrate was shocked and immediately implemented strict military control in the city. , So he continued to do nothing, launched a civil uprising that night, and the soldiers who were guarding the original county government also responded to the mutiny. The county magistrate fled Fu Gao alone and was killed by the rioters. Under the leadership of Fan Kuai, the elders opened the city gate to welcome Liu Bang's party members into the city. Residents of Pei County lined up to welcome Liu Bang into the county government, and earnestly asked Liu Bang to be the county magistrate.Liu Bang humbly said: "Today there is chaos in the world, princes from all over the world are fighting together, and the competition is fierce. If the leader is not suitable, it may lead to complete defeat. I don't care about my life. I'm just afraid that my talents are not enough to take on important tasks and fail to meet the expectations of my elders and brothers. This is a big deal for everyone, and we should choose leaders more carefully." In the hearts of the residents of Peixian County, although Xiao He and Cao Can had higher status than Liu Bang, they were all civil servants and had no confidence in commanding operations.What's more, in case of failure, according to the Qin law, the whole family will be executed, so everyone still supports Liu Bang with all their strength and hopes that he will come forward to lead.The elders stated more directly: "Since you were young, you have always had many surprising rare and strange appearances, and you are destined to become a noble person. According to the results of the divination the day before yesterday, the divination indicated that Liu Ji will be the leader. It is the most auspicious. We think you should not be polite, Pei County Safety is in your hands from today on.” After Liu Bang gave in several times, seeing the sincerity of everyone, he bravely assumed the task of leader. But Liu Bang's highest official position is just a small pavilion leader, and now he has jumped to be the leader of the whole county. How should he be called? After thinking deeply, Xiao He said to everyone: "Let's change Liu Ji's name to 'Pei Gong'! It can mean that he is the leader of Peidi, but also has the air of aristocrats, and is quite friendly. It is indeed quite suitable for Liu Ji, who has a dignified appearance and an easy-going personality." Then they reorganized the troops, and based on the original "Liu Ji's Party", they were reorganized into the soldiers of Peicheng. There were a total of 2000 to 3000 people. They put on brand new uniforms and lined up on the square of the county government gate. Liu Bang first went to the temple to pray to the Yellow Emperor to symbolize his desire to restore order in the world, and after offering sacrifices to the god of war Chiyou in the square, Liu Bang ordered the drums to be beaten together, and sacrificed blood to the drums. All flags were red battle flags. The lineup is fairly strong. What troubled Liu Bang the most was that the combat experience of this team was almost zero, and the level of the main cadres was not high. Liu Bang took Xiao He and Cao Can as his main staff, Lu Wan as his attendant, Xia Houying, Ren Ao, and Zhou Bo Guanying as his generals, and Fan Kuai, the most powerful, as his vanguard. Liu Bang ordered to attack the surrounding county towns Huling and Fangyu, and temporarily set up the base camp in Fengyi, Liu Bang's hometown. After some twists and turns and suffering a lot, Liu Bang became the leader of a peasant motley army that is quite special among the uprising heroes at the end of Qin Dynasty with "the attitude of a hero made by the times." 【Chen Wende Commentary】 Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching Chapter Thirteen": "Being astonished by being favored and humiliated as if you are in great trouble, what does it mean to be astonished by being favored and humiliated? Favor is the top and humiliation is the bottom. Surprised, what does it mean to have a big body? I have a big patient, because I have a body, and I don’t have a body, what trouble do I have? Therefore, if you regard your body as the world, if you can send it to the world; if you love your body as the world, if you can entrust the world .” The hustle and bustle is about fame and fortune, and they are calculating day and night. In a society where "utility" is in command, this seems to be a fairly common philosophy of life.Therefore, when you are favored, you worry about gains and losses, and when you are humiliated, you are depressed and depressed, so you are always in fear. Even when you are the happiest and successful, you have to worry about catastrophe all day long. Why do you have this kind of "nothing to worry about? It's because everyone cares about themselves most, calculating their own interests every day, and fearing that others will do to them Unfavorable, how can you be happy in such a mood." Therefore, Lao Tzu warns us that the most important thing is to "give up" yourself. If you can forget your body and make yourself a "no" body, what disaster will there be?Based on this, Lao Tzu made a bold conclusion: "A person who can sacrifice himself for the world can entrust the world to him; whoever is willing to sacrifice himself to serve the world can entrust the world to him." The biggest difference between Liu Bang and Chen Sheng and Wu Guang is here. The uprising by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang was to protect themselves and unite with others to take the risk of rebellion. Regardless of success or failure, their purpose was all for their own interests. After the initial strike was successful, they rushed to proclaim themselves kings, which further revealed their ambitions. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang only thought of destroying the existing order in order to establish their own power. They never thought of serving others, so as long as they encountered difficulties during the operation, It immediately attracted a lot of resentment from his subordinates. Although Liu Bang was a bit "scattered, he never cared much about his own interests. When the escort failed, what he thought of was sacrificing his official position and fleeing with everyone." Perhaps it was this habit of not considering his own interests that greatly increased his personal strength. Not only the bold and unrestrained Fan Kui and Xia Houying worshiped him, but even the shrewd and capable Xiao He and Cao Shen had to treat him differently. eye view. When he was ordered to return to Peicheng, he did not seem to have the ambition to lead Peicheng.After the suffering of fleeing life, Liu Bang became more mature. All he thought of was to help the elders in Peicheng escape from the rule of the Qin government and participate in the uprising activities of the heroes. Since Xiao He and Cao Shen refused to be leaders, Liu Bang had no choice but to "lead this weak miscellaneous army as everyone expected." His behavior is more like what Lao Tzu called a leader who has "no heart" and "no body." This kind of style is also the biggest asset for him to stand out in the fierce competition in the future.