Chapter 74 Chapter 74: Red Eyebrow Rebel Army

The south in the late Han Dynasty was not yet fully developed.At that time, the Yangtze River Basin belonged to the southern region.The rebellion in the era of chaos is not limited to one place.Beacon fires everywhere - this is the scene of rebellion in troubled times. The Green Forest Army that sprang up in the south was later divided into two branches, Xiajiang and Xinshi, and the Pinglin Army joined them. Dozens of rebel groups, including the Bronze Horse Army, rose up in the Yellow River Basin in the north. In the east, the Red Eyebrow Army raised its head. Here we will describe the matter about the Red Eyebrow Army.This is a turbulent force that has passed by like a meteor in Chinese history.

Today there is Haiqu County near Qingdao on the Shandong Peninsula.The county magistrate in the Han Dynasty was called the magistrate, but Wang Mang, who liked to change the name, changed it to the county magistrate. There is a rich family named Lu in the local area. The owner died very early, and everything in the Lu family is dominated by the widow.People called her "Mother Lu". Mother Lu is a strong woman.The only son, Lu Yu, was pampered and spoiled. He assumed the attitude of a poor boy and enjoyed chasing women all day long. It would be all right if the object of infatuation was only prostitutes, but Lu Yu dabbled in women from good families.He even had a hand in the county magistrate's old friend.

Lu Yu, a bad boy, has committed many evil deeds in the past.Every time troubles arise, Mother Lu spends money to settle them.Because of his backing, Lu Yu became even more unscrupulous and rampant in the village.But how could the county magistrate whose own woman was touched, swallow this breath? --cut! The county magistrate then issued this order. After Wang Mang ascended the throne, in order to boast of his "benevolent government", he issued orders of grace and amnesty frequently.People who committed minor crimes were released not long after entering the detention center-this happened often.Therefore, when dealing with criminals who are regarded as thorns in the eyes of local governors, they will be removed by means of quick trial and speedy judgment, so as to prevent them from going unpunished.

The county magistrate whose own woman was touched by Lu Yu really got rid of this hateful young man before the new order of amnesty was issued. Lu Yu's mother was heartbroken and hated the magistrate.Lu Yu is her only son and her only spiritual sustenance. Her son was slaughtered by the county, which almost made her lose the will to live.In order to continue to live, she must do one thing. ——Revenge for my son! In the end, she made it her only purpose in life. As a woman, Lu's mother, of course, cannot take revenge by herself.For this purpose, she recruited some people. Her deceased husband was a local cornerman and knew many knights.The chivalrous man who has a close relationship with him is a man named Xu Cizi.Mother Lu immediately consulted with Xu Zizi.

In order to avoid future troubles, the county magistrate who executed Lu Yu planned to deal with Lu Yu's family members as well.Since the other party is a local rich family, and there are knights and other characters who come and go frequently, if they are not dealt with early, future troubles will be inevitable. When receiving the information that the magistrate had this intention, Xu Zizi immediately said to Lu Mu: "It is better to go to sea." In case the county magistrate strikes first, he will walk around endlessly, and everyone may die.Instead, go to sea.At that time, in the waters of the Shandong Peninsula, there were some lawless small groups engaged in piracy. Whenever they had the opportunity, they would go to the shore to rob, and then fled to the sea.It is said that those people live a fairly good life. If they can maintain their lives in that way, why bother with life on land that is full of dangers?

Lu Mu then led a group of knights out to sea.As mentioned earlier, there are many small groups of pirates in this area.They're looking for the big boss so they don't live forever as thieves and live a life of insecurity.In other words, I want to protect myself in the form of an organization.At this time, they heard the news that Lu Mu, who was famous for her wealth, came to sea after handling the family property. ——It is ideal to have her as the leader! A group of pirates quickly embraced Mother Lu and called her "General". More than two years have passed since Mother Lu became the female general of the sea.In August of the fourth year of Tianfeng (AD 17), her followers attacked Haiqu County, captured the county's prime minister, Du Xianxi, and beheaded him.

She finally avenged her son.Lu's mother died three months after achieving her revenge. Her pirate group has more than 10,000 people.Xu Zizi succeeded as the leader. ——You can’t support 10,000 people if you do pirate work. Xu Zizi had this idea.In order to feed this group of people, they had to go to land. Because they have lived at sea for many years, the remnants of Lu Mu's party are not at all sure about how to live on land.The best way at this time is to find a big boss on land to join him. Such a leader must be a figure of comparable stature.Xu Zizi then collected information from all over the country.

One of the pieces of information he got was that there was a group of desperate heroes led by Wang Kuang in Lvlin Mountain, Dangyang County, Jingzhou. "Jingzhou? It's too far away." Xu Zizi groaned.Lvlin Mountain in Hubei is indeed too far away from the Shandong Peninsula. "There is a man named Fan Chong who is very active in the Taishan area." Someone reported. "Mount Tai? This distance is quite ideal." Xu Zizi nodded in satisfaction. "Then let's go to him!" This group of bandits who used to follow Lu Mu to show off their power in the sea for a period of time went ashore to join Fan Chongjun.

The rebel army led by Fan Chong attacked a place called Shi near Mount Tai.Shi was originally the territory of the Han royal family, and the distant ancestor of Shihou was King Qi Mourhui, the son of Gaozu (Liu Bang).This position was later inherited by Ai Wangxiang, and his younger brother Liu Zhang was granted the title of Chengyang.Liu Xian, the son of Liu Zhang VI, the descendant of Huang Wang, was named Shihou in the first year of Chuyuan (48 BC). In the Han Dynasty, which lasted for more than two hundred years, there were certainly as many "royal families" as stars.After Wang Mang took over the world, the royal family of Han became ordinary people.

Fan Chong attacked and captured it. After Shihou Liu Xian died, his position was inherited by his son Liu Ba.However, since Liu Ba had no heirs, his younger brother Liu Meng became the third generation Shihou.Liu Meng also passed away last year, leaving behind three sons. While occupying Shi, Fan Chong captured Shihou's son. The three royal teenagers are Gong, Mao and Penzi in sequence.Among them, only Liu Gong was educated by the royal family, while Mao and Penzi were not treated by the royal family because they were already ruled by Wang Mang when they were young, and their education was also ignored.Liu Maoshang is very interested in learning, while Liu Penzi enjoys shepherding sheep and doesn't want to study at all.

The occupation style can be said to have brought new strength to Fan Chong's rebel army.He took advantage of the situation and occupied the entire area of ​​what is now Shandong Province with his large army. Of course Wang Mang couldn't sit idly by and immediately dispatched Jing Shang, Wang Dang and other generals to suppress them, but they were unable to break through.This is not due to the powerlessness of the government forces. The military division indulged, and the people were in distress. According to historical records, the reason for this is that the government army's military discipline was lax and they plundered everywhere, leaving the common people in dire straits.Of course, it is impossible for an army without the support of the people to win the final victory. In the third year of Emperor Dihuang (AD 31), the commander of the government army was killed by Fan Chongjun. The third year of Dihuang was the year when the evil epidemic was prevalent in Lvlin Mountain, Hubei. Jing Shang died in battle in February of this year. In April, Wang Mang decided to send troops to attack Fan Chong and others again. This time the commanders are Wang Kuang and Lian Dan.This Wang Kuang is Wang Shun's son, of course not Wang Kuang of the Green Forest Army.The total number of government troops led by them amounted to more than 100,000. At this time, the rebel army was growing day by day.In addition to the 10,000 Lu Mu remnants from the sea, many small groups from all over the country came to join in succession.At this time, the small and medium-sized rebel army could no longer support themselves, and they had to join large-scale groups to survive. Due to the rapid expansion, comrades do not necessarily know each other. "If things go on like this, it is possible that comrades will kill each other..." Fan Chong began to worry about this. As soon as his soldiers defeated the government forces, they stripped off their uniforms and put them on themselves.Therefore, it is impossible to distinguish the enemy from the appearance alone. "It's true. We need identification signs." Xu Zizi said. "How about having them wear turbans?" Fan Chongyu said after thinking for a moment. "No, the enemy may also be wearing turbans!" "Wrapping cloth around the arm—how about that?" "If the cloth belt falls off during the fight, it will be troublesome." "Then what else can we do?" "right." Xu Zizi seems to have thought of a wonderful method. "Have you got any good ideas?" "Don't we have lots of red paint?" "Yes, there are many such things in Qufu..." "Just use that paint!" When Qufu, where the Confucius Temple is located, was captured, many crimson paints were found in its official treasury.This is Wang Mang, who considers himself a saint. In order to restore the Confucian Temple, he brought red paint from all over the place to paint the walls. "How to use those paints?" Fan Chong asked. "Use it as an identification mark!" "Identification? Where should I apply it?" "A place where you can see it at a glance. To avoid attacking each other, put this thing on a place where you can see it when you meet." "Where is the place where you can see it when you meet?" "Eyebrows! Put it on your eyebrows." "Oh……" It's really a good idea to apply it on eyebrows.This is the most striking part.Moreover, since it is applied to the fur, the paint will not come off easily. Fan Chong then ordered all the soldiers in the army to paint their eyebrows with red paint.The way the red-browed soldiers lined up was a spectacle, and it added a kind of power to the group. ——The Red Eyebrow Army. That's what people call them.Of course, Wang Mang's government army called them "red eyebrow thieves". More than 100,000 government troops marched eastward in order to crusade against these red-browed troops.Commander-in-Chief Wang Kuang was the "Grand Master" at that time, which was a special official position higher than San Gong. The government army is not only poorly equipped, but also lacks military rations. ——Army rations can be dispatched locally. The government gave this order, which amounted to a license to the army to plunder.Due to the extremely disordered discipline of this group of troops, the residents along the way suffered greatly. ——Don’t be afraid of the red eyebrows coming, only afraid of the grand master’s arrival. This sentence is popular among the people.The Red Eyebrow Army was a group of poor people who joined the rebel group because they had no food to eat. They fled to avoid being arrested because they couldn't pay Wang Mang's heavy taxes, so they understood the difficulties of the peasants.The soldiers with red eyebrows today were also poor peasants who lived by hard work yesterday.Even if they plundered the treasury and the mansion of the rich, they would never bully the poor. The government army was merciless, and even took away the poor people's only savings.Of course, the government army lost the hearts of the people. The two armies fought in a place called Chengchang.Chengchang is located near Dongping County, Shandong Province today, close to Henan Province. An army that loses its hearts will of course be defeated.Because of their domineering and plundering abilities, rebellions spread frequently everywhere.Government forces were ordered to suppress these rebellions.A man named Solu rebelled in Wuyan City, and the government army was ordered to suppress it before fighting with the Red Eyebrow Army. They finally captured Wuyan City and killed more than 10,000 people before going to Chengchang to fight with the Red Eyebrow Army. confrontation.For the government army, the enemy is not only the red eyebrow army in front, but the residents in all directions have become their enemies. Dong Xian, the commander of the red eyebrow army, led tens of thousands of troops to meet the government army. Since they had just attacked Wuyan City, the government army was extremely exhausted.Lian Dan advocated recuperation, but Wang Kuang insisted on Lien Chan. — Shall we rest?The red-browed thief will attack at any time! The facts are exactly as Wang Kuang said. As a result, the government army was defeated, Lian Dan was killed, and Wang Kuang was defeated. After the Battle of Chengchang, the Red Eyebrow Army expanded greatly.Countless people came from all over to join the rebellion.