Daizexiang Uprising

To resist the Xiongnu, Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall, sent 300,000 troops, and collected hundreds of thousands of people; to develop the south, he mobilized 300,000 soldiers and people. He also used 700,000 prisoners to start the construction of a huge and luxurious Alfang Palace. When the Second Emperor took the throne, hundreds of thousands of prisoners and people were drafted from all over the world to build the tomb of Qin Shi Huang on a large scale. The tomb was very large and deep, and a large amount of copper was melted and poured down to cast the foundation, on top of which stone chambers, tunnels, and tombs were built. The Second Emperor also asked the craftsmen to dig a big tomb like a river, lake, or sea and filled it with mercury. Then Qin Shi Huang was buried there.

After the burial, to prevent the possible future robbery of the tomb, he also asked the craftsmen to install a killing device in the tomb, and finally, he cruelly buried all the craftsmen who made the tomb in the tomb tunnel, not allowing anyone to come out.

When the tomb was not completed, the Second Emperor and Zhao Gao went on to build the Alhambra. At that time, the entire population of China was only 20 million, and almost two to three million people were drafted to build the Great Wall, guard Lingnan, repair the A-Fang Palace, build the Great Tomb, and other laborers together, which cost an unknown amount of human and financial resources, forcing the people to complain a lot.

In 209 B.C., two officers were sent by the magistrate of Yangcheng (southeast of Dengfeng, Henan Province) to escort 900 people to Yuyang (southwest of Miyun, Beijing) for defense. The officers picked two big and capable men from the group of strong men to be the head of the canton and told them to manage the others. The two men were Chen Sheng, a native of Yangcheng, a long-time laborer, and Wu Guang, a poor farmer from Yangxia (present-day Taikang County, Henan Province).

When Chen Sheng was young, he was a man of ambition. He worked with other long workers to plant fields for the landlord, and often thought, "I am young and strong, why do I work for others as a cow and a horse for so many years, one day, I also want to do something big out.

Once he was resting with his partners at the edge of the field and said to them, "When we get rich in the future, don't forget our old friends!"

The guys laughed at this and said, "You're working hard for others to plant, how did you get rich?"

Chen Sheng sighed and said to himself, "Alas, how can a bird know the aspirations of a wild goose?"Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were not acquainted with each other, but later when they were the people's groom, they bumped into each other and became friends soon. They were afraid of missing the date, so they rushed to the north every day.

When they arrived at Dazexiang (southeast of present-day Suxian County, Anhui Province), it rained heavily and flooded the road, making it impassable. They had to set up a camp and stay there to prepare for the clearing of the sky before they could go on their way.

The Qin dynasty's laws were very strict, and if the conscripted people missed the deadline, they had to be killed. When they saw that the rain kept falling, they were anxious like ants on a hot pot and did not know what to do.

Chen Sheng secretly discussed with Wu Guang, "We are still several thousand miles away from Yuyang, so we can't make the deadline, so are we going to die for nothing?"

Wu Guang said, "How can we do that? Let's desert and escape." Chen Sheng said, "If we desert and get caught, we will die, and if we rise to rebel, we will also die. The people suffered enough from the Qin Dynasty. I heard that the Second Emperor is a young son, it would not have been possible for him to be the emperor, the one who should be enthroned is Fusu, we all sympathize with him; also, the great general of Chu, Xiang Yan, has made great achievements, we all know he is a good man, but now we do not know whether he is dead or alive. If we use the name of Fusu and Xiang Yan to call on the world, the people of Chu will come to respond to us."