Chapter 10 3. To measure the current situation, release prisoners and gather in the mountains and forests

Liu Bang spent a few days of leisurely life.Lu Zhi is worthy of being a lady from everyone's family background. She treats Liu Bang with courtesy, takes care of food, clothing, housing and transportation, and takes out her dowry to supplement the family from time to time. The Liu family is also doing well.Life was easier, Liu Bang helped Xia Houying, Fan Kuai and others from time to time, and Lu Zhi never asked.Liu Bang's status among his brothers is increasing day by day, and he is also secretly happy that he has found a good wife, hoping that such a fairy life will continue.But the good times don't last long.

In the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shihuang (210 BC), Qin Shihuang collapsed on a sand dune platform during his east tour. The capital Xianyang issued a funeral announcement, and recruited prisoners and young adults from all over the world to rush to Lishan to build Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum.Liu Bang received a notice from the county government and escorted the prisoners in the county to Lishan to build the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. The year after year of corvée makes people overwhelmed, the environment is harsh, the living conditions are poor, and the labor intensity is high, which is tantamount to hell on earth.Among those who served in corvee, many never returned and died tragically on the construction site.When they heard that they were going to Lishan to build the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, the prisoners were all terrified. Liu Bang also complained, but he didn't dare to delay for a day, so he set off immediately.

Xiao He and his party and Lu Zhi all came to see Liu Bang off. Seeing his friends and family, Liu Bang sighed and said, "I would rather be a dog of peace than a person in troubled times." The court was full of dissatisfaction and resentment, and went on the road with this resentment. Along the way, the prisoners were eager to move and tried every means to escape, and it was already difficult for Liu Bang to control the situation.After walking for a day, Liu Bang counted the number of people and found that there were eleven people missing, and the rest were also flustered and waited for an opportunity to escape.Liu Bang couldn't help muttering in his heart: "According to this method of escaping, even if I reach the destination, I will almost escape. By then, I will not be dead." After weighing it in his heart, he felt that he could not be the Lishan Mausoleum. Victims, a decision must be made...

The team walked to Zezhong Pavilion in Fengxi, and when it was almost dusk, Liu Bang asked the prisoners to stop and sat on the side of the road drinking alone.When the night was dark, Liu Bang stood up, threw the wine bottle to the ground, and untied the ropes of the prisoners one by one. The prisoners all showed a look of confusion. Run away, from now on, I will go far away." The prisoners dispersed, and there were more than a dozen prisoners who hesitated to leave. Liu Bang asked, "Why don't you run away quickly?" One said "In this world, we don't know where to go. We know you are a good person, so why don't we follow you, we will go wherever you go." Liu Bang thought for a while, then sighed and said, "That's fine."

It was already dark, and Liu Bang led the dozen or so people to grope forward on the small road in Zezhongting with the aid of his gallbladder.Halfway there, they saw a white snake as thick as an arm coiled in the middle of the road, which was very conspicuous in the moonlight. Many prisoners backed away in fright, and some said, "Let's go back, I've never seen such a big snake. A snake." Liu Bang was still drunk, and shouted loudly: "A man, are you afraid of a snake blocking the way?" Then he stepped forward, drew out his sword, and aimed at the big snake with a sword, cutting the big snake in half. , the people who followed were in awe.

After cutting off the big snake, Liu Bang took them across and ran for several miles in one breath.One of the prisoners was very knowledgeable. He felt that Liu Bang was a man of chivalry and courage. Following him, he might have a way out in the future, so he fabricated a strange thing: Someone went to the place where the big snake was killed last night and found an old woman squatting there. cry.The man asked the old woman, "Why are you crying?" The old woman replied, "Someone killed my son just now." The man asked, "Why was your son killed?" The old woman wiped her tears and said to the man: "My son was originally the son of the White Emperor. He turned into a snake and stood in the middle of the road. He was killed by the son of the Red Emperor just now." After speaking, he disappeared in a blink of an eye...

He said this matter so miraculously that everyone believed it and discussed it in private, thinking that Liu Bang was amazing, and they became more and more in awe.When Liu Bang heard it by accident, he was skeptical, but when he thought of the rumors in the village, he felt a little proud, and thought to himself: "Whether it's true or not, it's not bad for me anyway." From then on, he regarded himself as the son of Chidi. Liu Bang and the others entered Dang County westward from Zezhong Pavilion. There was a mountainous area near Sishui Pavilion and Dang County called Mangdang Mountain.Liu Bang led a group of people to Mangdang Mountain overnight and hid.

There are more than ten hills of different sizes in the Mangdang Mountains, stretching for dozens of miles, with lush forests and dense swamps around them, it is a good place to take refuge in grass.From then on, Liu Bang disappeared from the territory of Pei County, and officially became a bandit, becoming a criminal wanted by the Qin government. After the death of Qin Shihuang, the current situation was unstable and people were in panic. No one could predict what the future would be like.Under such circumstances, officials at all levels procrastinated and pushed each other, and their work efficiency was extremely low. Liu Bang and his gang got a chance to breathe.

Liu Bang's base camp is located in the Sanwu area, with complex terrain, and it has been a place where grass bandits have been haunted since ancient times.The government had no choice but to arrest Lu Zhi. Xiao He and others actively protected and interceded, and Cao Shen also took care of him, so he was released without much suffering.In Peixian County, the story of Liu Bang has spread, and those brothers who used to meet Liu Bang are very proud to say: "Our brother Liu...", which made some young men feel very itchy, and they all wanted to join him in the mountains. .Fan Kuai used to kill dogs to sell dog meat, but now the business is not doing well, so he took a few young people who worshiped Liu Bang to the mountains and went to join Liu Bang.

In private, Liu Bang established a "hotline" connection with Xiao He, Cao Shen and others, and Xia Houying was their secret contact.Xiao He and Cao Shen have official channels and know much more about the situation than ordinary people. They often ask Xia Houying to deliver important news to Liu Bang. Fusu, son of the Qin Dynasty, was bestowed with death, and the youngest son Hu Hai succeeded to the throne, called Qin II; On the agenda, corvee is tighter than in the past, and the law is harsher than in the past. The messages Xia Houying brought were almost all bad news, and Liu Bang had a premonition that a big change was coming quietly.Xia Houying brought Xiao He's message and asked Liu Bang to set up camp in the mountains, recruit troops, wait for the opportunity.The hundreds of people under Liu Bang's command can only be regarded as mobs, not enough to raise the flag to rebel. Liu Bang knew that he had no way out, so he stayed in the mountains with peace of mind.

One day in September of the first year of Qin II (209 BC), Xia Houying came in a hurry, and the first thing he said when he saw Liu Bang was: "Brother Liu, here is your chance!" Liu Bang looked at Xia Houying's sweaty face, Feeling that something big was going to happen, she hurriedly pulled him to sit down.Xia Houying said: "A group of peasants who were confiscated to defend Yuyang encountered heavy rain, and because it was estimated that they would not be able to arrive at their destination on time, they resolutely turned a tree into a halberd and rose up in Daze Township, Qi County more than a month ago. The leader was Chen Sheng. Under the banner of 'Zhang Chu', it is invincible to conquer the city, and there are countless responders from all over the world!" Hearing this, Liu Bang jumped up excitedly and shouted: "This day has finally come!" Liu Bang ordered Xia Houying to return to Pei County quickly and discuss with Xiao He and Cao Shen about the response.As soon as Xia Houying left, Liu Bang called Fan Kuai again and asked him to summon all the personnel immediately.After a while, people gathered in front of them. Seeing that his followers have grown from a dozen to hundreds of followers in just a few months, Liu Bang is full of enthusiasm and ambition.He came out to hang out when he was a teenager, but he didn't want to live the life his father lived. He wandered for half his life and achieved nothing, but he met a bunch of good brothers. Be a hero once.Liu Bang looked around the team with sharp eyes, and then announced loudly: "The world has been suffering for a long time! Now, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang have risen, and we have to pull out a team to create our own world!" Officials forced the people to rebel, and the people had to rebel.At the right time, Liu Bangsheng was naturally involved in the raging waves of the anti-Qin struggle.As a small official of the imperial court, Liu Bang did not become a pawn of a violent government. On the contrary, he had a deep understanding of the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty and was able to make his own choices at critical moments.Liu Bang chose the common people, stepped forward, and released the prisoners, even if he died in exile. This kind of benevolence and awe-inspiring righteousness won Liu Bang the support of the people of Pei County, and finally produced an overwhelming response.