What was the process of the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising?

After Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin, came to the throne, he implemented policies even more cruel than those of Qin Shihuang. The working people lived in dire straits, and finally a peasant uprising that shocked the world broke out.

In July 209 BC, a team of more than 900 farmers was sent to Yuyang (now southwest of Miyun, Beijing) to serve as a garrison. These farmers had been enslaved for a long time and were depressed. Encountered continuous rain, the road was muddy. They were naked and shivering in the wind and rain. Most of them trudged step by step through the muddy water with bare feet, and their marching speed was extremely slow. But the soldiers escorting the team were riding horses and wearing warm clothes, whipping them with whips at every turn. Everyone dared to be angry but dared not speak. Finally, the team could no longer move any further and stopped in Daze Township, Qi County (now in Suzhou, Anhui Province), hoping to wait until the road was clear before leaving.

According to the laws of the Qin Dynasty at that time, all garrison troops stationed on the border must arrive on time. If they miss the date, they will be beheaded. This team to garrison in Yuyang has long missed the designated date. Everyone knows that if you delay on the road for one more day, you will live one more day. If you arrive one day earlier, you will die one day earlier. There is a lifeless atmosphere in the crowd. .

In this long-distance trekking team, two people were designated as village leaders, that is, the leaders of this team. One was named Chen Sheng, who was from Yangcheng (now Nancheng, Henan Province); His name was Wu Guang, a native of Yangxia (now Taikang, Henan). They are both leaders and ordinary soldiers. Like everyone else, they will be beheaded if they fail to reach their destination on time.

Chen Sheng is an ambitious man who has long been dissatisfied with his poor life. Back then, Chen Sheng and a group of people worked as hired laborers for the rich, working in the fields under the scorching sun and wind and rain every day. One day, Chen Sheng and his co-workers were weeding in the field. He leaned the hoe on the ground and said to everyone: "If any of us become rich in the future, don't forget our poor friends!" One of the co-workers said with a smile. : "When will people like us who work for others become rich?" Everyone also laughed at him. Chen Sheng sighed and said: "Alas! Little sparrow doesn't know Hongyan's ambitions!"

Now, Chen Sheng came to the critical moment of choosing life or death. He called Wu Guang to discuss with Wu Guang Said: "We are going to Yuyang to garrison. The road is so far, the time is so tight, and it rains. How can we make it in time? Now the date has been delayed. We will die if we rush, and we will die if we don't go. In my opinion, It's better to rise up and rebel, maybe you can find a way out!" Wu Guang was a very loyal man and always cared about the soldiers. He also felt that it was a pity that everyone died in vain, so he agreed to join forces to do something vigorously. Therefore, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang discussed a specific action plan.

Wu Guang got a piece of silk cloth and wrote the words "King Chen Sheng" on it with red cinnabar. He ran to the place where the fishermen lowered the fishing net, fished out a fish from the fishing net, and put the cloth on it. Stuff the fish into the belly. The next day, the soldiers bought fish from the fishermen to eat, and found that there was cloth in the belly of the fish, and there were also characters. The literate people recognized the three characters "Chen Sheng Wang" and told each other that Chen Sheng was the name of our village chief. .

That night, the soldiers all went to bed. Suddenly, a strange sound came from the woods not far away. After listening carefully, it turned out to be the sound of a fox calling, and you could still hear it. A human voice came, and the voice clearly said: "The great Chu is rising, King Chen Sheng; King Chen Sheng, the great Chu is rising!" The next morning, the soldiers were whispering to each other, pointing at Chen Sheng and whispering. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang knew it in their hearts, but they didn't say a word.

This morning, the officer in charge of escorting was about to drive the soldiers on their way, but Chen Sheng and Wu Guang deliberately kept silent. Wu Guang even muttered: "I'm exhausted after walking for so many days. It's better to go home!" When the escorting officer heard that Wu Guang wanted to run away, he picked up a big wooden stick and came to beat Wu Guang. Wu Guang actually took the officer's wooden stick and threw it away. Soldiers usually They loved Wu Guang very much, and when they saw Wu Guang being humiliated, they were all indignant. The lieutenant became even more angry and pulled out the sword in his waist to kill Wu Guang. Seeing that the time had come, Chen Sheng rushed forward, grabbed the sword, and killed the lieutenant. Wu Guang rushed forward again, teamed up with Chen Sheng, and killed several other escorting soldiers.

At this time, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang went to the middle station and gathered more than 900 people together. Chen Sheng said: "Brothers! We encountered heavy rain and the march date has been delayed. According to regulations, we must kill Even if their heads are not beheaded, not many of them will survive when they are stationed at the border. It is not worth it to die like this! If a man wants to do a great cause, are all the princes and ministers just from the army? Did you bring it in your mother's womb?"

Chen Sheng's inspiring speech made everyone's blood boil. More than 900 people roared like thunder, expressing their willingness to launch an uprising together with Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. Everyone elected Chen Sheng as the general and Wu Guang as the captain. They took off their right sleeves as a sign, picked up knives, guns, wooden sticks, etc., some even carried hoes and shovels, and used bamboo poles tied with cloth as flags. That's it. A vigorous uprising was launched.

The rebel army first occupied Qixian County, and then divided its troops into two groups. One group was led by Ge Ying and advanced eastward; the other main force was led by Chen Sheng himself and attacked westward. Chen Sheng's main force was unstoppable along the way and soon occupied many prefectures and counties in present-day Anhui and Henan. When the rebel army reached Chen County (today's Huaiyang, Henan), it had grown to tens of thousands. At this time, everyone elected Chen Sheng as king and established the Zhang Chu regime. This was the first regime established by the peasant uprising in ancient my country.

Promoted by the uprisings of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, poor people across the country responded one after another. The descendants of the aristocrats of the six countries who were originally eliminated by Qin Shihuang also raised the banner of rebellion. Under the attack of various rebel armies across the country, the Qin Dynasty was vulnerable and declared its demise in more than two years. The huge empire quickly collapsed.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang Uprising