The Myth of Daqin: The Soul of Yi Xiaochuan

In a hidden room, several figures sat together, their faces shrouded in a mysterious shadow.

The faint candlelight flickered in the room, making the whole scene even darker.

"The tyranny of the Qin Dynasty has become unbearable for the untouchables. Our chance has come." A voice said in a low voice.

"But how can we fight against the powerful Qin army?" another voice asked worriedly.

"Everyone, have you forgotten?" a heavy voice rang out. "The elite Qin army is either in the northern or southern borders. Moreover, Meng Tian's troops have already marched north to attack the Xiongnu. The Xianyang court can no longer worry about the Shandong region. The rest is nothing to worry about. Besides, Ying Zheng is dead now, so what is there to fear?"

As these words were spoken, a burst of cheerful laughter rang out in the house.

The laughter echoed in the dark corners, as if it was a mockery of the death of the First Emperor.

"However, we cannot let our guard down." A calm voice broke through the chorus of laughter. "Although Ying Zheng has passed away, the foundation of the Qin Dynasty remains strong. We must proceed with caution."

"That's right. We need to make a detailed plan and not act blindly," another person agreed.

"But we can't take the lead in this matter. We are behind the scenes..." another person said.

In this dim room, the discussion among the crowd became increasingly heated, their voices intertwined in a heated debate.

Everyone's eyes are filled with ambition and greed for the future.

In a remote mountain village in a county in Shandong.

One day, the sun was scorching and the people were working in the fields, their clothes soaked with sweat.

They bent over, working the land diligently, their faces full of fatigue.

Suddenly, a group of officers and soldiers rushed over like hungry wolves, holding whips and weapons, shouting at the people and demanding that they pay more taxes immediately.

An old farmer pleaded, "Sir, we don't have any extra food. The harvest was bad this year, and we can't even feed ourselves!"

His voice was tearful, his hands tightly gripped the hoe, and his body was trembling slightly.

"Bah, you lowly person, what does it have to do with me if you don't have enough to eat? But I know that if you don't pay taxes, we won't have enough to eat either."

A fat and big-eared clerk cursed, with a ferocious smile on his face and greed flashing in his eyes.

However, the officers and soldiers showed no mercy. They brandished whips and whipped the people like demons.

The old farmer fell to the ground in pain, his body covered with scars and his blood dyed the land red.

Another citizen stepped forward and pleaded, "Sir, didn't we just pay the land tax and the head tax?" His voice was filled with despair and anger.

A minor official said viciously: "That is not what I collect. Open your eyes and look. This is an official document from the county. What I am collecting now is water tax and light tax." His tone was firm, as if he was declaring his authority to the people.

Seeing this, the other people gathered around angrily, their eyes burning with rage and their mouths shouting in anger.

"You robbers!"

"We have no way to survive!"

However, they were unarmed and could not fight against the officers and soldiers at all.

Seeing this, the officers and soldiers became even more arrogant. They began to enter the village and directly rob the food and property from the people's homes.

A young man couldn't help it, he picked up a hoe and rushed towards the officers and soldiers.

His eyes were full of determination and courage, as if he was determined to fight these injustices to the end.

"You beasts in official uniforms, I'm going to fight you!" the young man shouted.

However, he was quickly subdued by the officers and soldiers and was beaten all over his body.

He fell to the ground, breathing hard, and the light in his eyes gradually disappeared.

The other people could only watch all this happen, their hearts filled with helplessness and anger.

Tears welled up in their eyes, but they could not change this cruel reality.

At the same time that Hu Hai ordered the collection of taxes, he also drew 20,000 troops from various counties in Shandong.

Just as Meng Yi and others were marching north to fight against the Xiongnu, a shocking incident occurred in Huaiyang County - the Daze Township riot broke out.

The first year of the reign of Qin II (209 BC)

It turned out that the Xianyang court recruited poor people from the left to garrison in Yuyang. Chen Sheng, Wu Guang and more than 900 other soldiers were recruited to guard the border in Yuyang.

However, they were blocked by heavy rain in Daze Township, Qi County (now Suzhou) on the way and could not reach their destination as scheduled. According to Qin law, anyone who exceeded the prescribed time limit would be beheaded.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang discussed and decided to launch an anti-Qin uprising in the name of Hu Hai's attempt to usurp the throne and murder the First Emperor and the Chu general Xiang Yan.

So the next day, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang went to the market near Daze Township and came to a fortune-telling stall to predict good or bad luck.

The fortune teller told Chen Sheng and Wu Guang: You can achieve great things and have a bright future.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were overjoyed and began to carefully plan the riot.

It turns out that this fortune teller was no ordinary man. He was a general under the Chu general Xiang Yan, named Zhou Wen. After the Qin Dynasty conquered the Chu State, General Xiang Yan died in battle. Zhou Wen fled here and made a living by fortune telling.

This time, when Zhou Wen saw that Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had the idea of ​​rebelling against the Qin Dynasty, he immediately secretly used divination to encourage the two to rebel and boost their confidence.

With Zhou Wen's instigation, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang prepared to launch an uprising against Qin.

After the three of them discussed it, they wrote the three words "Chen Sheng Wang" on a piece of white silk with cinnabar and stuffed it into the belly of a fish that someone had caught with a net.

The soldier bought some fish and cooked it. He found the silk book in the fish's belly and was naturally very surprised.

Chen Sheng secretly sent Wu Guang to an ancient temple near his camp, where he lit a bonfire at night and imitated the voice of a fox, shouting, "The great Chu will rise, and Chen Sheng will be king."

The soldiers were frightened when they heard the sound in the middle of the night.

After the two strange incidents of the red letter in the fish's belly and the fox howling by the campfire, the soldiers felt uneasy.

The next day, the garrison soldiers were talking about it everywhere, pointing and looking at Chen Sheng.

"Could Chen Sheng possibly be an emperor?"

"Could it be that God wants Chen Sheng to be king?"

Wu Guang always cared about others, and many soldiers were willing to serve him.

The county lieutenant who was escorting the team was drunk, and Wu Guang deliberately threatened to escape several times to provoke the county lieutenant and provoke him to insult him in public, thereby angering everyone.

The county lieutenant really whipped Wu Guang, and then he drew his sword. Wu Guang jumped up to grab the sword and killed the county lieutenant.

Chen Sheng helped him and together they killed the two county lieutenants.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang stood in front of everyone.

Chen Sheng shouted, "Brothers, we should have arrived at Yuyang on time to garrison the border, but the weather has not been kind. Now we are late and will die. Even if we are lucky enough to survive, six or seven out of ten of those guarding the border will find it difficult to return home."

When everyone heard this, they all looked sad.

Wu Guang continued, "Besides, your Majesty, Hu Hai, usurped the throne illegitimately, and we are all Chu people. Even if there are only a few households left in Chu, it will be Chu that will destroy Qin. Now, with the protection of General Xiang Yan's spirit, he gave us a sign last night: 'The great Chu will rise, and Chen Sheng will be king.' This is heaven's will for us to rise up and resist the tyranny of Qin."

After hearing this, the soldiers whispered to each other, thinking of the story of the red letter in the fish's belly, and they began to believe it to some extent.

At this point, Zhou Wen also stepped forward and spoke aloud, "I once served under General Xiang Yan, and I know full well that the Qin army is not invincible. Now, if we unite, we will surely achieve great things."

The soldiers were filled with excitement and shouted in unison: "We are ready to obey your orders!"

Seeing this, Chen Sheng drew his sword and said, "Brothers, kings, princes, generals, and ministers are all born with blood! Today we will raise the banner of rebellion and rebel against the tyranny of Qin!"

So Chen Sheng appointed himself general and Wu Guang as captain.

The people built a high platform to take the oath and used the county lieutenant's head as a sacrifice.

Zhou Wen used his own strategies to provide advice to Chen Sheng and plan the marching route.

The news of the uprising quickly spread throughout Daze Township.

The nearby farmers responded and joined the rebel army.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang led the rebel army, quickly captured Daze Township, and then marched towards Qi County.

When the defenders of Qi County heard that the rebels were coming, they were so scared that they fled.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang successfully captured Qi County and then marched towards Chen County.

Chen County was the seat of Huaiyang County. Its city walls were tall and strong, and it was guarded by a large number of troops.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang knew that in order to capture Chen County, they must have sufficient troops and weapons.

So they sent people to various places to recruit soldiers and collected some weapons and food.

After several days of preparation, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang led the rebel army and launched an attack on Chen County.