Red Brow Army
In September 23, the first emperor Liu Xuan led the Han army into Chang'an, and the main body of this army was the former Green Forest Army. The Green Forest Army arose in the area of Lulin Mountain in Jingzhou, which was at the junction of nanyang county, nan county, and Jiangxia county, and there were more things that could fill the hunger, so many poor people who could not survive Wang Mang's new policy at that time hid here. When these people come together, there will inevitably be disputes, who will preside over justice? Therefore, two people with prestige were elected as grand marshals, namely Wang Kuang and Wang Feng of Xinshi Township, Jiangxia County. At the beginning, they did not dare to openly make enemies of the government, but at most they robbed their homes, ate mixed food, and mixed up a day to count the day, all hoping that the imperial court's policy would be a little more relaxed, the harvest would be better, it would be better to have another amnesty, and they would go home to farm and have their own birthdays. At this time, if the imperial court can adopt proper policies, appease and recruit security, it will certainly not be a big problem and easy to handle. Wang Mang could not listen to this opinion, and in 21 AD, he mobilized a local army of 20,000 people in Jingzhou to attack the Green Forest Mountain and eliminate Wang Kuang. Wang Kuang and they also desperately tried their best, and even defeated the officers and troops in one fell swoop. Then, without turning back, he simply attacked the county seat and took Jingling County, Jiangxia County, in one fell swoop. As a result, this green forest army quickly grew to fifty thousand people.
At the same time, the Chimei army in the Area of Qingzhou and Xuzhou also rose.
Lu Mu
The rise of the Chimei Army was first due to a heroine, who was originally a rich woman in a county town by the sea in Langxian County, because her husband's family name was Lü, and she was known as Lü Mu. Mother Lü's son was a wanderer in the township and committed some minor crimes, which originally did not lead to death, but he was executed by the county order. Lü Mu was in pain, almost did not cry to death, and finally thought: What is the use of me just crying? I've got to do something! What do I do? Open a tavern.
She was rich.
Millions of yuan are produced on credit. --The Book of the Later Han Dynasty
She used the money to open an upscale pub and buy a lot of clothes. There is a way that long sleeves are good at dancing, and more money is good at jia. Lü Mu's tavern is very popular, and many people come to consume, including many rangers and small. Some people have finished spending and have no money.
Lu Mu smiled: It doesn't matter if you don't have any money, keep an account, on credit, and drink casually. Hey, your clothes are old, auntie send you new clothes, don't want money, and you'll talk about it later.
After a long time, Mulu's tavern became a "black shop" and gathered a lot of jianghu characters. These people respected Lu Mu very much, and one day they put together a large amount of money to return it to Lu Mu. Mother Lü cried: Brothers, I don't want you to pay back, I have something to ask for. The county order wrongfully killed my son, and I want revenge! Can you do me a favor? Dare you?!
These people's blood boiled: dare! What's in it? Kill that dog officer!
So, Lü Mu took out all the good wine: Good! Let's do what we say, drink!
Then, Lü Mu occupied an island with more than a hundred and ten people, recruited troops, and soon reached thousands. Subsequently, he captured the county seat and cut off the head of the county order. As the saying goes, women are weak, but mothers are strong. Mother's love is great!
A few years later, Lü Mu fell ill and died, and her team switched to another Lang evil man, Fan Chong, who had risen up, and within a year or two, it grew to tens of thousands, attacking cities and plundering land in the area of Qingzhou and Xuzhou, and defeating the official army several times. In order to easily distinguish between the enemy and us in the chaotic battle, they all dyed their eyebrows red, which gave them the name "Red Brow Army".
Fan Chong
In addition to the Jingzhou Green Forest Army and the Chimei Army in Qingzhou and Xuzhou, there were also many peasant rebel armies such as the Tongma Army and the Qing calf Army in Jizhou, and they saw that the world was about to be in chaos again.
(This article is an excerpt from the fourth part of the "History of the Rise and Fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty", "GuYuan Talk Tongjian", which will be published by The Chinese Publishing House in the first half of 2022.) ）