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Chapter 40: In the chaotic times at the end of the Qin Dynasty, low-key development

The Qin Dynasty began to implement the harsh policy of "Ten-Five Jointly Responsible". Once the policy was implemented, everyone was in danger! The lower-class people were rewarded for reporting, and severely punished for shielding. The number of prisoners exposed was so large that the prisons could not hold them all.

Even ordinary people did not dare to say hello when they saw familiar people on the street, for fear of bringing disaster upon themselves. Apart from the Qin people, who else could not be the remnants of the Six Kingdoms?

Even if there were no natural disasters, no matter how hard the lower-class people worked, they still could not get enough to eat or wear warm clothes, and often did not live to be 50 years old. Their living conditions were indeed extremely poor. If there were even a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, the people's lives would be truly miserable and they would be unable to make a living.

Endless heavy taxes, labor service, and corvée levies made almost all the people look bitter, skinny, and pale. The Qin Dynasty's tyranny was indeed inhumane and horrible. The people dared to be angry but not to speak out, but over time, the seeds of hatred were planted in their hearts.

Since Liu Bang changed his name and took up the post of Si Shui Pavilion Chief, he came into contact with different kinds of suffering working people all day long. He had to cooperate with his superiors countless times to escort those doing corvée labor to designated places.

Serving corvée labor is equivalent to today's prison labor reform, but there was no human rights protection in the Qin Dynasty, and there was no effective nutritional supplement after physical exertion. It was truly an extremely hard labor. Those who entered corvée labor were basically doomed to die. Countless people died suddenly on the way due to hunger or disease. Those who resisted or escaped would be executed. Those who served corvée labor basically had a life-or-death experience and it was very difficult for them to survive.

Liu Bang often said to Liu Yuan: "It would be better to resign from the post of pavilion chief and go home to farm."

Liu Yuan advised Liu Bang to be patient, saying: "If you cannot be patient, you will ruin your great plan! It is easy to resign from the post of village chief and become an ordinary citizen. What is the difference between you and those who are doing corvée labor?"

Because of this, Liu Bang felt very conflicted. He often felt sorry for the people who were doing corvee labor, but he could do nothing about it.

Liu Yuan couldn't help but sigh: "They are all dead, why bother the slaves?"

During one mission of escorting corvee laborers to build the imperial mausoleum at Mount Li, more than half of the people died or escaped, so even the escorts faced the torture of corvee labor.

Liu Bang said, "Liu Yuan, what should we do?"

Liu Yuan said, "You're going to die anyway, so save your life first. If you're magnanimous, many people will be grateful and follow you! You do this, this and that... make people feel grateful that you've lost your job, and they'll protect them even at the cost of their own lives, and arrange for their trusted people to spread the word."

After the two leaders discussed, they decided to do something drastic and untied the ropes of more than 500 people who were tied up for forced labor. They said loudly, "You all should run for your lives. Hide for a few years to see if you can save your lives. I would rather give up such an official position and lose my life than let you continue on the road to certain death. If you continue on, you will definitely die. Those who are willing to follow me, let's go to the nearby Mangdang Mountain and act accordingly."

Many people saw that Liu Bang was generous and magnanimous and that he truly cared about them. They thought that since they were all going to die anyway, they might as well escape together, where there might be a glimmer of hope. Most of them expressed their willingness to follow Liu Bang, and so a group of hundreds of people immediately dived into the depths of Mangdang Mountain.

Since then, Liu Bang, out of his sympathy for and support for the poor, left the "civil servant" system serving the Qin Dynasty. This move made Liu Bang famous. He would rather "give up his office" and "sacrifice his life" to protect the people. Coupled with the spread of the news by those who fled, Liu Bang's "popularity" increased greatly, and he won the respect and love of the general public.

Liu Bang followed Liu Yuan's guidance and deliberate arrangement, organizing people to pick, hunt, plant, domesticate and raise in the mountains. In addition to filling their stomachs, Liu Yuan also helped Liu Bang to conduct similar modern military formation training and unarmed combat training. Due to the lack of weapons and bows and arrows, they could only use wooden sticks as various weapons for training. They also recruited some hunters to form archer and spies teams. Liu Yuan especially emphasized discipline and obedience, and not to arbitrarily infringe on the interests of any grassroots people.

The government's movements were reported by Xiao He (county magistrate) and Cao Shen (in charge of prisons). Since the number of people was small, they could always avoid unnecessary losses. Liu Yuan also advised Liu Bang: "Keep a low profile and expand your strength to seek development, and avoid being exposed and surrounded." It is strictly forbidden to take the initiative to avoid being targeted by the government.

While Liu Bang was hiding in the Mangdang Mountains and developing his business in a low-key manner, a large-scale peasant uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang broke out. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang proclaimed themselves "King Chen Sheng", general, and captain, and led more than 3,000 civilians to first capture Daze Township, and constantly recruited more people to expand their team.

After conquering Qixian, Zhicheng, Chenxian, etc., Chen Sheng declared himself king and named his country Zhang Chu. Afterwards, people in the old lands of the six kingdoms of Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, and Wei declared themselves kings in the name of restoring the six kingdoms. For a time, wars broke out everywhere and the situation was very chaotic.