The great man will live forever

Chapter 223 Liu Xiu’s Uprising
The third year of the Emperor of the Earth (22nd year) is the season of summer and autumn.

A severe famine occurred in the Nanyang area, which turned Nanyang, which was originally a prosperous agricultural city, into a devastated place.

Large areas of farmland have become barren due to prolonged drought and locust plagues.

Where there were once rice fields, now there are only some dry straw roots in the soil.

The originally busy market has become deserted, the merchants have closed their doors, and only some ragged refugees are wandering on the streets.

During this difficult period, people began to disown their relatives in order to survive.

Family, friends, neighbors, and even relatives are not spared.

Everyone is running for food, and some people even start stealing and robbing. These originally quiet villages have now become chaotic.

The government did nothing at all. They were busy fighting wars and exterminating the rebels. People starved to death every day.

Liu Xiu avoided famine because he was good at managing land. However, many of his brother Liu Yan's retainers engaged in robbing homes and houses, and many even joined the Green Forest Army. Liu Xiu was almost implicated.

Fortunately, Liu Xiu harvested a lot of grain in the year of famine, so in order to avoid being pursued by officials, he fled to Wancheng, a prosperous commercial city, to sell grain.

At this time, there were two energetic young men in Wancheng who were ready to do big things. Their names were Li Tong and Li Yi.

Li Tong's family has been famous for being in business for generations, and he is said to have a lot of wealth. His father is called Li Shou, who is nine feet tall. It is said that his appearance is very different from ordinary people. He is serious, resolute and rigid, and his home is like being in an official court.

Li Shou initially worked with Liu Xin as a half-disciple. He also liked astronomical calculations and prophecies that predicted bad luck. He once served as Zongqing's master in the new dynasty.

In the fifth year of Emperor Ping's reign, Wang Mang took over as regent. The prefecture and state appointed a grandmaster to head the clan, and Gaite respected him, so he was called Zongqingshi.

Because of his father's support, Li Tong did well and served as General Wuwei. Later, he became the magistrate of Wu County and had a reputation for being capable.

Later, one time, Li Tong heard his father Li Shou say in a prophecy that "the Liu family will be revived, and the Li family will be the assistant." He often thought about this matter in his mind. He wanted to do big things, and he wanted to be granted a title of marquis and pay homage to the general. How could he do it? A small county magistrate?

He immediately decided that whoever wanted to do this would do it. I wouldn’t do it anyway. It was very willful to resign as soon as he said he would.

Of course, he has willful capital. His family is very wealthy and he is the number one in the township.

Just in the past two years, Wang Chang's Xiajiang soldiers and Wang Kuang's new city soldiers have risen, and it feels like they are about to invade Nanyang.

Li Tong felt that an opportunity had come and that his ideal might be realized, so he found his close cousin Li Yi and discussed: "Now that there is chaos from all directions, the regime of this old guy Wang Mang is about to collapse, and the Han Dynasty should rise.

Among the Liu clan in Nanyang, only the Liu Yan brothers could love and tolerate heroes, and could conspire with them to destroy Wang Mang and revitalize the Han Dynasty. "

Li Yi smiled and said: "Brother, I think the same thing. You are worthy of being a brother. Liu Xiu is in Wancheng now. Let's go find him."

"Please give me a recommendation."

Li Tong immediately sent Li Yi to meet Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu didn't know what to do, but he felt that Li Tong was a gentleman and respected him, so he naturally agreed to go and meet him.

"Brother Jiyuan, I have admired your name for a long time. I am honored to meet you. It is truly a blessing to meet you today."

"Where is it? Uncle Wen is a serious descendant of the Imperial Clan, and he also went to Imperial College..."

When the two met, they first complimented each other, and then chatted happily for a long time. They shook hands happily and almost became close friends.

Probably sensing that the heat was on, Li Tong pulled the slightly drunk Liu Xiu and said, "Brother Wen, do you know that Wang Mang became emperor because of a prophecy?"

Liu Xiu was stunned, good fellow, just call Wang Mang by his name. He is the emperor now and he will be beheaded if he is known to be alive.

But he did not correct him, which shows that Li Tong trusts him, and now not many people respect Wang Mang as the emperor. Countless people have cursed him, so it is understandable that he is called by his first name.

"I know, in the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Meng Tong dug out a white stone while dredging a well. The top of the stone is round and the bottom is round. What's weird is that there are red words on it, which read: Proclaim Duke Mang of Anhan to be the emperor."

The so-called prophecies have been around for a long time. "Prophecy" is a kind of cryptic language or prophecy made by wizards or alchemists using prophecy techniques. It is used as a talisman or sign of good or bad luck. It is also called a prophecy, a prophecy, a fortune teller, and a prophecy.

It existed as early as Qin Shihuang, and it is very famous. "Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang" records: "Lu Sheng, a man from Yan, sent an envoy to return to the sea and reported ghosts and gods. Because of the memorials and books, it was said that 'Hu Ye was the one who destroyed Qin'." The first emperor was Let General Meng Tian send 30 troops to attack the Hu north and capture Henan."

Qin Shihuang felt that the "Hu" in this prophecy naturally referred to the Hu people, that is, the Huns in the north, so he ordered General Meng Tian to lead an army of 30 to attack the Huns in the north to eliminate Qin's troubles.

Later, the First Emperor still felt that it was not safe and ordered Meng Tian to build the Great Wall to prevent the barbarians from invading southward.

But how did Qin Shihuang know that the "Hu" in "Hu Ye, the one who destroyed Qin" refers to "Hu Hai", not the Hu people. As expected, Great Qin died in the hands of Hu Hai and declined rapidly in his hands.

Similarly, Duke Nan of Chu once predicted when the state of Chu was destroyed, "Although Chu has three families, Chu will definitely destroy Qin if it is destroyed!" This means that even if there are only three clans left in the state of Chu, Qu, Jing, and Zhao, the state of Qin will still be destroyed.

In the end, Xiang Yu did give Da Qin a fatal blow, fought with his last ditch effort, trapped and killed the Qin army, and sounded the death knell for Da Qin.

Later, "Book of Han·Biography of Hou Jingyi Li of Sui Liangxia" said: "The big willow tree in Shanglin Garden was broken and lying on the ground, and it was also growing on its own. There were insects eating the leaves and wrote the words, 'Gongsun Bing has been established'."

Liu Bing has indeed become Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty has been rejuvenated.

Therefore, in order to become the emperor, Wang Mang buried stones by himself, had others dig them out, and came up with the prophecy "Declaring Duke Mang of Anhan to be the emperor", and he really became the emperor.

At this time, many people had no choice but to believe in this prophecy. Coupled with the ancient feudal superstition and theology, everyone was naturally more certain that these things existed.

These things, if you believe them, they exist, if you don’t, they don’t exist. If more people believe them, they may actually exist.

Even Liu Xin, because there is a prophecy in an ancient book called "Hetu Chifufu": "Liu Xiu sent troops to capture the enemy, and all the barbarians gathered in the wild to fight. On April [-]th, fire will dominate."

He saw from the prophecy that a man named Liu Xiu would become the master of the world, so he changed his name to Liu Xiu.

"Do you know? Brother Wen, I saw a prophecy that said, 'The Liu family is reviving, and the Li family is assisting'. This Wang Mang has usurped the throne. It has only been a few years, but the sky is angry and people are complaining, and disasters are everywhere. The Han Dynasty should be prosperous. Uncle Wen Brother, you have a keen mind, intelligence, wisdom, unparalleled benevolence and righteousness, and a wealth of knowledge. You should revive the great nation!"

Li Tong told all the prophecies and took Liu Xiu's hand very excitedly.

Liu Xiu was surprised at first, and quickly said: "Brother Jiyuan praised it immediately. How dare I, an ordinary person and a first-time farmer, dare?"

In fact, Liu Xiu did not believe in these prophecies. He had experienced it a few years ago. When he visited the Grand Master Liu Xin, Liu Xin paid great attention to the name Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu was just confused at the time, but later he realized that it was the name Liu Xiu. Because of that prophecy.

There was a fortune teller named Cai Shaogong who lived in seclusion in Wancheng. When Liu Xiu was in his early 20s, he was still a poor boy who had accomplished nothing. One day, he, his brother-in-law Deng Chen, and a group of friends went to a banquet. Cai Shaogong also After leaving, Cai Shaogong also said during the dinner, "Liu Xiu should be the emperor."
Liu Xiu was stunned at that time. He suddenly understood the reason why the imperial master asked his name.

So everyone here thought it was the Grand Master Liu Xin, and Liu Xiu said jokingly: "Could it be me?"

He was actually joking, and everyone laughed.

Therefore, when he heard Li Tong's "revival of the Liu family and Li family as an assistant" today, he didn't pay much attention and foolishly thought that he was the right one.But he still chose to agree to Li Tong and carry out the uprising.

Because he thought that his brother Liu Yan had made many heroic friends and had the hope of achieving great things, and he had also observed that Wang Mang was at the point of defeat. The most important thing was that if he didn't do something great, how could he marry Yin Lihua?

Now he is 28 years old and has not yet gotten married. It's not that he can't get a wife, but he fell in love with Yin Lihua at first sight and never forgets her!

He always remembers the ambition he said in Chang'an at that time: "To be an official, I should be like Zhi Jinwu, and to marry a wife, I should be like Yin Lihua."

Although they said it was an uprising, in fact, in the eyes of the court, it was rebellion and would bring harm to his family, and Li Tong's father, Li Shou, was still in Chang'an.

Liu Xiu looked at Li Tong and said, "In this case, what should your father do?"

Li Tong had already thought it through, "I already have a way."

Therefore, he stated his plan in detail to Liu Xiu. Since Liu Xiu was well aware of Li Tong's intention, he made an agreement with Li Tong and made a plan to take advantage of the capital's knight trial on the day of Beginning of Autumn to kidnap Zhen, the doctor of the front team. Fuhe belonged to Zhengliangqiuci, so he called on the people to announce the uprising.

After the discussion, Li Tong asked Liu Xiu and Li Yi to return to Chongling to find Liu Xiu's eldest brother Liu Yan to discuss raising troops and send his cousin's son Li Ji to Chang'an to inform Li Shou of the plan.

On this side, Liu Xiu's eldest brother Liu Yan has long wanted to join the army. He has long felt that this old guy Wang Mang is too useless. He just wants to steal the country of our old Liu family. The key is that he should not be an emperor well and put him to death. This great country is in a state of chaos. We cannot tolerate his problems. We must fight head on to take back the power of my old Liu family.

Not only does he have ideas, but he is also incredibly courageous and decisive. He does what he says and does, and never hesitates or hesitates.

Over the years, he has been working hard and secretly recruiting troops. He wants to set up a stage to sing, be the protagonist himself, and become the next Liu Bang.

Here, Liu Xiu brought Li Yi to find him and told him that he wanted to rebel with Li Tong. They should have hit it off, but Liu Yan refused.

"You guys do it, don't take me with you."

"Brother, why is this? Don't you want to go to war the most? Why don't you agree now?" Liu Xiu was confused. Liu Yan looked at Li Yi beside him and pulled his younger brother Liu Xiu into the room alone.

"You don't know that I have a personal grudge against the Li family."

"what happened?"

"Back then, when you were young and my father was seriously ill, I asked Li Tong's cousin Li Ru to come to see me. He was arrogant, unreasonable, and cursed our father, so I killed him. Now they are cooperating with us. This is treason. If How can it be that they interfered with this?"

"Brother, now that they are all involved, how can they stand in the way? They are all going to be beheaded, so they can only go one way. Besides, since we are revolting, the more people, the better."

Finally, after some persuasion from Liu Xiu, Liu Yan agreed to raise troops together and sent Liu Xiu to Wancheng to contact Li Tong.

But something bad happened. As soon as Liu Xiu arrived in Wancheng, he found that Li Tong's whole family was killed, and 64 brothers and clan members were burned in Wancheng. Only Li Tong escaped.

It turned out that Li Tong sent Li Ji to inform his father that the man died of illness on the road.

He could only send a few more people to inform Li Shou. If there were too many people, the news would naturally leak out. Li Shou got the news and wanted to flee back.

Li Shousu was friendly with fellow countryman Huang Xianshi, who was a Zhonglang general. He also heard the news and quickly said to Li Shou: "The gates are now very tightly guarded. Your appearance is special. Where will you go? Why don't you go to the imperial court?" Please return home. Nothing has happened yet. As long as you can escape, you can avoid disaster."

Li Shou obeyed his words and immediately submitted a letter requesting to return home. However, he did not have time to submit the memorial and stayed in the palace.

At this time, the news reached the palace. When Wang Mang knew it, he was stunned for a moment, then smiled secretly and murmured to himself: "Liu Xiu, you are finally raising an army. It seems that I am about to die. Sir, I will protect you." Yes, I just follow history."

He immediately arrested Li Shou and imprisoned him.

Huang Xian interceded for Li Shou and said: "Li Shou heard that his son had committed a serious crime and did not dare to flee back. He obeyed his righteousness and returned to you. I, Huang Xian, would like to take Li Shou to the east and tell his son. If If his son really wants to rebel, I will order Li Shou to commit suicide to the north to thank him for his great kindness."

Wang Mang pretended to agree. At this time, Zhen Fu from the front team sent a letter stating that Li Tong was secretly raising troops. Wang Mang pretended to be furious and prepared to kill Li Shou. Huang Xian argued for him, so Li Shou and Huang Xian joined forces. He was killed, along with Li Shou's family in Chang'an.

When Nanyang got the news, they killed Li Tong's brothers and 64 members of his clan, and burned their bodies in Wancheng.

Here, Liu Xiu knew the situation and everyone was dumbfounded. This was a bad start. He couldn't find Li Tong, so he hurriedly led Li Yi to Chongling without stopping.

In October 22 AD, Liu Yan felt that the time was finally ripe. In addition, he had already made an appointment with his brother, and the internal preparations were almost completed. The external Green Forest Army was also making a lot of noise, and they were even about to do it. Come to Nanyang.

He thought this was a good time to do something big, so he declared a rebellion.

However, when Liu Yan announced his rebellion, the effect was not as good as he expected. In his mind, it should be her and him who raised their arms and shouted, and the people around him responded with full support.

Then, by chopping vegetables along the way, he can build a business like Gaozu.

As a result, the reality is very cruel. Most of the local tribesmen feel that this kid is full of food and can only live a good life. Why do he have to lead everyone to jump into the fire pit?

Even the clan members of the old Liu family yelled: "This kid Liu Yan wants to kill all of us before he gives up!"

Can we still raise an army?No one supported it, which made Liu Xiu's brother Liu Yan very embarrassed and stunned. He didn't know what to do for a while.

At this moment, Liu Xiu rushed over. He was dressed very solemnly, wearing warrior clothes and a tall hat. He was very dazzling and immediately stunned everyone.

As soon as he came in, he said loudly: "Dear uncles and brothers, my eldest brother is right. Now is the time for us to revive the Han Dynasty. Haven't you noticed that our Liu family is getting worse and worse? How can you bear to let the thieves take over The power of our Liu family?

Moreover, the people are in dire straits. Since we retain the blood of our ancestors, we naturally want to save the people from dire straits..."

Liu Xiu is very popular because he is usually down-to-earth, humble, knowledgeable, and personable. In addition, he has been farming, studying, doing business, and traveling around the world over the years, and he has also accumulated a lot of contacts.

More importantly, Liu Xiu had the golden slogan "Liu Xiu is regarded as the emperor" which was widely circulated among high-level society at that time, which made many people look forward to him.

I have to say that Liu Xiu's statement that he should be the emperor is still influential.

Anyway, he made some small words of justice, and when the Liu family saw that Liu Xiu, who was so reliable, had already raised an army, everyone decided to do it.

As a result, the uprising was about to begin, but then something happened, which almost caused the uprising to die.

　I feel more and more that these fables are said by someone, many people believe them, many people believe them, and slowly push them forward, eventually turning them into facts.

　　Many things often require belief to see. If you don’t believe in something yourself, how can you do it?

　　Just like those martyrs, they cannot see today, but they believe that their descendants will live the life we ​​have today. They work hard for it, fly moths to the flame, bleed and sacrifice for it, and do whatever it takes...

　　That’s why we live today. Sometimes the beliefs of millions of people can change the world.

　　Because I believe, I see!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)