Chapter 23 114 Lite's refugee camp

The decadent rule and chaotic wars of the Western Jin Dynasty brought endless disasters to the people. Coupled with continuous natural disasters, farmers in many places had no food to eat and were forced to leave their hometowns and flee in groups to other places.Such fleeing farmers are called "refugees". In 298 A.D., there was a great famine in the Guanzhong area. Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Lueyang (where the government is located in the northeast of Tianshui, Gansu today), Tianshui and other six counties fled to Shu.Li Te, a member of the di (sound di) tribe, and his brothers Li Xiang and Li Liu also fled famine with the refugees.Along the way, there were hungry and sick among the refugees, and the Leete brothers often helped them and took care of them.The refugees are very grateful and respect the Lee Te brothers.

Shu is relatively far away from the Central Plains, and the people's life is relatively stable.After the refugees entered the Shu region, they were scattered all over the place and lived by working long-term jobs for wealthy families. Luo Shang, governor of Yizhou, wanted to drive these refugees back to Guanzhong.They also set up checkpoints on the main roads, preparing to rob the refugees of their property. When the refugees heard that the government was going to force them to leave the land of Shu, they thought that there was a famine in their hometown and they would not be able to live when they went back. Everyone was worried and complained.

The refugees complained to Li Te, and Li Te asked the government several times to relax the deadline for repatriating the refugees.When the refugees heard the news, they were grateful to Dai Li Te and went to him one after another. Li Te set up a big camp in Mianzhu to accommodate the refugees.In less than a month, more and more refugees gathered, and there were about 20,000 people.His younger brother Li Liu also set up a camp to accommodate thousands of refugees. After Li Te took in the refugees, he sent envoy Yan Yu (sound yu) to see Luo Shang and asked for a delay in sending the refugees again.

Yan Yu came to Luo Shang's Governor's Mansion, saw that the camp was being built there, and people were mobilized, knowing that they had bad intentions.He met Luo Shang and explained his intention.Luo Shang said to Yan Yu: "I have granted the refugees a suspension of deportation, go back and tell them!" Yan Yu said to him bluntly: "Gong Luo has heard bad things from others, and it seems that he will not spare them. But I would like to advise you, don't underestimate the common people. The common people seem to be weak, if you force them to They have nowhere to go, and public anger is hard to offend, I'm afraid it will not be good for you."

Luo Shang said hypocritically: "I won't lie to you, just say it like this!" Yan Yu returned to Mianzhu, told Li Te everything about Luo Shang's situation, and said to Li Te: "Although Luo Shang said so, we can't trust him, and we must guard against his sneak attack." Li Te also suspected that Luo Shang's words were unreliable, so he immediately organized the refugees, prepared weapons, and set up a formation to resist the attack of the Jin soldiers. In the evening, Luo Shang sent his generals with 30,000 infantry and cavalry to attack the Mianzhu camp.

The Jin army entered Li Te's camp, and Li Te purposely lay calmly in the camp.The Jin general thought he had a plan, and ordered the soldiers to storm Li Te's camp. Thirty thousand Jin troops had just entered the camp, only to hear a deafening sound of gongs and drums from all directions.The refugees who had been ambushed in advance in the camp, armed with spears and broadswords, came out together.These refugees were extremely brave.One is worth ten, and ten is worth a hundred.The Jin army didn't expect that the refugees had already prepared, and panicked, they had no fighting spirit, and were killed by the refugees, throwing up their helmets and armor, and fled in all directions.Two or three Jin generals could not escape and were killed by the refugees.

The refugees killed and dispersed the Jin army, knowing that the ruler of the Jin Dynasty would not give up, so they asked Li Te to be the master for them and lead them to fight against the government. Li Te discussed with the leaders of the refugees from the six counties, and everyone recommended Li Te as the general of Zhenbei, Li Liu as the general of Zhendong, and several refugee leaders were elected as generals.They rectified their troops and horses, and their military power was greatly boosted.After a few days, the nearby Guanghan was captured and the prefect there was driven away. Li Te entered Guanghan, imitated Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, announced three chapters of the contract, opened the government's granary, and helped the poor local people.Under the leadership of Li Te, the army composed of refugees has strict discipline.The people of Shu were usually oppressed by the government of the Jin Dynasty, but now that Li Te has come, their lives have settled down, so why are they unhappy?The folks made up a ballad saying: "Li Te is still good, Luo Shang will kill me."

On the surface, Luo Shang sent envoys to seek peace with Li Te, but secretly colluded with local powerful forces to besiege Li Te.After Li Te fought bravely, he was defeated and sacrificed.His son Li Xiong continued to lead the refugees to fight.In 304 AD, Li Xiong declared himself king of Chengdu.Two years later, he proclaimed himself emperor again, and his country was named Dacheng.Later, when Li Xiong's nephew Li Shou was in power, the country's name was changed to Han.Therefore, it was also called "Cheng Han" in history.