Due to the turmoil of feudal rule, some people in the ruling class thought that the Han Dynasty had perished, and consort Wang Mang took the opportunity to usurp the Han Dynasty. In order to alleviate the social crisis, Wang Mang carried out the reform of entrusting orphans. The main contents include: restoring the ancient mining field system, prohibiting the sale of land and handmaiden, advocating five averages and six weights, and reforming the monetary system. Because these measures have harmed the interests of nobles, bureaucrats and landlords, they have caused great social and economic chaos, which has not only been opposed by the rich and powerful, but also added new difficulties to the people. Wang Mang's laws prohibit annoyance and cruelty, abuse of punishment, and unreasonable use of troops against ethnic minorities in border areas. As a result, people's grievances boiled, the social crisis deepened further, and farmers' resistance struggles broke out one after another. In the second year of Tianfeng, people in Wuyuan and Dai Jun rioted, and thousands of people moved to neighboring counties in droves. Two years later, the Linhuai people set out in Changzhou, Huiji, and Lu Mu set out in Haiqu to kill Haiqu County. The scattered peasant uprisings eventually brewed into a large-scale peasant war.
At the end of Xin Mang, peasant uprisings broke out in three areas: the outlaw hero led by Wang Kuang and Wang Feng in northwest Hubei, and the red eyebrow army led by Fan Chong in eastern Shandong and northern Jiangsu; In today's Hebei region, there are dozens of uprising teams, the largest of which is called Tongma Army.
In the fourth year of Tianfeng, there was famine in Jingzhou area for years, and the people were in dire straits. Wang Kuang and Wang Fengchang, new citizens, help people solve difficulties and disputes. They were supported by hungry people and were elected as leaders. They gathered hungry people and attacked nearby villages from time to time. This rebel army, based in Greenwood Mountain, is called the hero of Greenwood. In the second year of Emperor Huang, 20,000 people attacked outlaws in Jingzhou, and outlaws defeated the mang army, attacked Jingling, and moved to Du Yun, Anlu and other places, and their troops increased to tens of thousands. The following year, there was an epidemic in the area of Lvlinshan, and the rebels split up. One route led by Wang Chang and Cheng Dan entered Nanjun in the west, which was called Xiajiangbing. One route led the troops from Wang Kuang, Wang Feng and Ma Wu, and went north to Nanyang, known as the new army; When the new army attacked Sui County, Mu Chen and Liao Zhan from Linping led the public to respond, also known as Ping Bing Lin.
After the outlaw uprising broke out, some clans and local strongmen of the Western Han Dynasty who were in contradiction with the Xinmang regime also rose up. Imperial clan Liu Xuan went to Linping Rebel to save Anji. In order to restore Liu's rule, Liu and his brothers, the big landlords in Nanyang, contacted landlords in nearby counties, deployed clans and guests, and formed a team of seven or eight thousand people, known as Fuling Army in history. Fuling Army joined forces with Xincheng Army and Lin Pingjun to attack Wancheng, but was defeated by Wang Mang Army and joined forces with Xiajiang soldiers who turned around and returned to the north.
In the second year of outlaw uprising, Fan Chong, a Shandong villain, led more than 100 people to revolt in Juxian County, which was responded by hungry people in Qing and Xu States. Yan 'an, Xu Xuan, Xie Lu, Yang Yin and others led the troops to join, and the team developed to tens of thousands and headed for Qingzhou. In order to be different from the enemy in the battle, they dyed their eyebrows red, so they were called the Red Eyebrow Army, and their basic team was poor peasants. They attacked landlords and rich people everywhere, confiscated property and had no intention of attacking the city. There are no files, no banners, no songs and no orders in the army. They only agreed that the murderer would die and the injured would be compensated, and they kept a simple style and good discipline. The highest rank among the rebels is called Sanlao, followed by the history of fighting and death. These are the titles of local officials in the Han Dynasty. Soldiers call each other giants.
In the second year of Emperor Huang, Xin Mang Taishi Xi Zhongjing led an army to suppress the Fan Chong Rebel Army, which was completely annihilated. The following year, follwed sent Wang Kuang, a surname, and Lian Dan, a general who changed his ways, to lead 10 million troops to suppress. They burn, kill, rob and maim the people everywhere, so a folk song says: It is better to meet a teacher than a red eyebrow! Master, start killing me again! The Red Eyebrow Army defeated the Mang Army in Changcheng until there was no salt, and Lian Dan died. Since then, the Red Eyebrow Army has been active in the vast areas at the junction of Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan provinces, with a growing momentum.
At the same time, in the first month of AD 23, the outlaw reformed the commanders of Mang Nanyang, Zhen Fu and Liang Qiu, and then defeated Yan You and Chen Mao in Qingyang and entered Wancheng. The uprising team has grown to several hundred thousand people. Nanyang landlord group wants to establish Liu as emperor, which is opposed by most peasant generals. However, due to the influence of Liu Fuxing, the peasant uprising made this weak Han clan emperor. In February of the same year, Liu Xuan set up an altar on the sandbar in Qingshui, south of Wancheng, proclaimed himself emperor, restored the Han Dynasty and made new contributions.
After the establishment of the new regime, Wang Chang, Kunyang, Dingling and Shexian were captured, and Liu was sent to attack Wancheng. Wang Mang sent 430,000 state and county soldiers, claiming to be millions, led by Wang Yi and Wang Xun, in an attempt to wipe out outlaws in one fell swoop. The mang army went out of Yingchuan in the south, and about 100 thousand forwards entered Kunyang. Feng Wang and Wang Changyin held fast to Kunyang for reinforcements. Liu Xiu, Li Yi, etc. Qingqi broke through, and at night, more than 10,000 insurgents from Yan and Dingling were assembled to help. In Kunyang, Liu Xiu led three thousand brave men to raid Wang Yi and Wang Xun's Zhong Jun camp from the west of the city and kill Wang Xun. Kunyang defenders also took the opportunity to attack, attacked from inside and outside, and the mang army was defeated. Wang Yi and the remaining thousands fled to Luoyang.
After the main force of the Mang army was annihilated, all localities rose up in succession to kill the new Mang official, and took the Han title as the imperial edict to start over. The generals of Xinshihe saw that Liu He's reputation was getting bigger and bigger, and suggested getting rid of Liu. The outlaw immediately divided his troops into two ways: one was Wang Kuang attacking Luoyang, and the other was Shen Tujian and Song Li attacking Wuguan. In September of the first year, with the cooperation of various anti-mang forces, the outlaw hero successfully captured Chang 'an. Wang Mang fled to Taiwan Province and was hacked to death by businessman Du Wu, ending the rule of Xin Mang regime. In October, Liu Xuanbei was the capital of Luoyang and moved to Chang 'an the following year.
After the new regime entered Chang 'an, many officials at all levels were mediocre officials, vendors, cooks and slaves, so it was said at that time that the commander-in-chief would be promoted from the kitchen. Rotten sheep belly, riding captain. Rotten sheep head, Shanhaiguan.
Although this is a slander on the peasant regime, it also reflects that this renewed regime has retained some simple qualities of the peasant army. Soon, due to Liu Xuan's corrupt life and feasting day and night, his cronies Zhao Meng acted arbitrarily, so the rebel generals left Germany in succession to find another way out. In order to consolidate his position, Liu Xuan killed Shen Tujian, Mu Chen, Cheng Dan and other uprising generals. Wang Kuang and others led the crowd to join the red eyebrow.
When Liu Xuan entered Luoyang, the Red Eyebrow Army was active in Yingchuan and Puyang. Fan Chong went to Luoyang to contact, but Liu Xuan didn't want to cooperate with the Red Eyebrow Army, so he was only allowed to be an empty officer. Subsequently, the red eyebrow army was divided into two roads: one led by Fan Chong and Yan' an, capturing Lachang Society and attacking Wancheng in the south; Lead Xu Xuan and Xie Lu all the way, take Yangzhai, and reach Liang County. Fan Chong and others thought that all the troops would spread eastward and decided to attack Chang 'an in the west. In the winter of 24 AD, Fan Chong and others set out from Wuguan, and Xu Xuan set out from Luhun Pass. In the first month of the following year, after the two armies joined forces with Hongnong, they continued to attack Chang 'an. When he entered Huayin, Liu Pengzi, the imperial clan of the Western Han Dynasty aged 15, was made emperor; After successfully occupying Chang 'an, Liu Xuan surrendered immediately and was hanged soon. Due to the strong landlords in Guanzhong hiding food, organizing armed forces and tenacious resistance, the Red Eyebrow Army had to withdraw from Chang 'an and enter the areas of Anding and Beidi in the absence of food. Due to the attack of Xiao Wei and other landlords and the obstruction of heavy snow, he was forced to return to Chang 'an and lead many people back to the East, so he had a fierce confrontation with Liu Xiu's Eastern Han regime.
After Liu Xiu was killed, he was sent by Liu Xuan to appease the area north of the Yellow River. With the support of landlords and bureaucrats in Xindu, Shanggu, Yuyang and other places, Wang Lang, who occupied Handan as the emperor, was eliminated, and the peasant uprising army headed by Tongma in Hebei Province was suppressed and incorporated, expanding its own power. In this way, he won the title of bronze horse emperor. In AD 25, Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor in _, and soon established Luoyang as the capital. When the Red Eyebrow Army led the troops back to the east, Liu Xiu stationed heavy troops in Xin 'an and Yiyang Tun, which cut off the Red Eyebrow Army's way home in advance. At the beginning of the third year of Jianwu, the Red Eyebrow Army was defeated by Feng Yi, turned to the southeast, and was surrounded by heavy troops in Yiyang. Finally, it ran out of food and was forced to surrender to Liu Xiu. In the summer of the same year, Fan Chong and Ampere revolted again and were immediately suppressed.