Chapter 50 141 The Wagang Army opens a warehouse to distribute food

Zhai Rang, the leader of the Wagang Army, was originally a small official in Dongjun County. Because he offended his boss, he was thrown into prison and sentenced to death.A jailer sympathized with him and said to him: "I think you are a good man, how can you wait to die in prison." One night, the jailer secretly broke the shackles, opened the cell door, and released Zhai Rang. Zhai Rang escaped from the prison and fled to Wagang Village near Dongjun County. He recruited some poor farmers and organized an uprising team.When some local young people heard the news, they all came to join him.Among them was a young man named Xu Shiji (sound ji), only seventeen years old, not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also very resourceful.

Xu Shiji persuaded Zhai Rang: "There are poor villagers around here, we shouldn't bother them; I see that there are many wealthy and wealthy businessmen in the Xingyang area, so it's better to go there to raise some money and food." Zhai Rang followed Xu Shiji's advice and led the peasant army to the Xingyang area to attack wealthy government businessmen and seize a large amount of assets.More and more farmers from nearby came to join Zhai Rang, and soon there were more than 10,000 people. After Li Mi defected to Zhai Rang, he helped Zhai Rang rectify his troops.At that time, there were still some small groups of farmers in various places nearby.Li Mi went around to contact and persuade them to unite and obey Zhai Rang's command.Zhai Rang was very happy and gradually got close to Li Mi.

Although Zhai Rang had many troops, he did not expect that he could overthrow Emperor Sui Yang.Li Mi said to Zhai Rang: "In the past, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were ordinary people, but they finally overthrew the Qin Dynasty. Now the emperor is fatuous and tyrannical, the people are full of complaints, and most of the officers and troops are far away in Liaodong. Chang'an, defeating a tyrant is not an easy task!" Zhai Rang was very happy to hear that, and said: "Your opinion is very good, I didn't expect this." Then, the two discussed it and decided to attack Xingyang first.The prefect of Xingyang asked Emperor Sui Yang for help.Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty sent general Zhang Xutuo to lead an army to suppress it.

Zhang Xutuo is a veteran of suppressing the peasant army.Zhai Rang had been defeated by him before, but this time he heard that Zhang Xutuo was coming again, so he was a little scared.Li Mi said: "Zhang Xutuo is brave and intrepid, plus he thinks he is strong, arrogant and underestimates the enemy. We take advantage of his weakness and keep him defeated." Li Mi asked Zhai Rang to set up a formation and meet the enemy head-on; he himself led a thousand troops and set up an ambush in the dense forest north of Dahai Temple in Xingyang. Zhang Xutuo bullied Zhai Rang that he was not his opponent, and recklessly ordered his troops to cover up and kill him.Zhai Rang resisted for a while, pretending to retreat.Zhang Xutuo chased after him for more than ten miles. The road became narrower and the woods became denser. It was Li Mi's ambush circle.Li Mi gave an order, and the soldiers of the Wagang Army who were in ambush rushed out and surrounded Zhang Xutuo's men and horses.Although Zhang Xutuo was brave, he was surrounded by layers of ambushes, rushing left and right, unable to escape, and finally his entire army was wiped out.Zhang Xutuo was also killed by the rebels.

After this battle, Li Mi increased his prestige in the Wagang Army.Li Mi not only has strict orders, but also lives a simple life. He distributes all the money seized from the enemy to the rebel soldiers.Over time, the soldiers gradually turned towards him.In the spring of the second year (AD 617), Li Mi persuaded Zhai Rang to attack the Eastern Capital while Emperor Yang of Sui was touring Jiangdu and the Eastern Capital was empty.The Wagang Army sent people to the Eastern Capital to spy on the military situation, and was discovered by the officials of the Sui Dynasty, who strengthened the defense of the Eastern Capital.Li Mi changed his plan and proposed to attack Xingluocang (in today's Gong County, Henan Province) near Dongdu first.

Xingluo Cang, also known as Luokou Cang, is the largest granary built in the Sui Dynasty.There are more than 20 miles around Cangcheng, and 3,000 large cellars have been dug in the city, each storing 8,000 shi of grain.This is all the blood and sweat collected by the Sui Dynasty from farmers from all over the world over the years. Zhai Rang and Li Mi led seven thousand elite soldiers to attack Xingluocang.These soldiers were originally displaced farmers. When they heard that they were attacking the government's granary, they were all gearing up and full of courage.They launched a fierce attack on Xingluocang.The Sui army stationed at Xingluocang still wanted to resist, but they couldn't resist the Wagang army who was like a tiger with wings.Xingluo warehouse was breached.

After the Wagang army broke through the Xingluo warehouse, they immediately issued an order to open the warehouse to distribute food.The soldiers opened a ration cellar and let the common people take it as much as they wanted.Starving farmers flocked to the granary from all directions, from gray-haired old people to women with children on their backs, all of them came to receive the grain with tears in their eyes.There is no need to mention everyone's gratitude to the Wagang Army. Then, the Wagang Army defeated the Sui Army rescuers sent by Dongdu.By this time, the command of the Wagang Army was gradually concentrated in Li Mi's hands.Zhai Rang felt that his talent was not as good as Li Mi's, so he gave up the position of leader to Li Mi.Everyone recommended Li Mi as the Duke of Wei, who also served as the marshal of the marching army.

After the Wagang Army established its own political power in Luokou, it took advantage of the victory to capture many counties and counties, and the officials and soldiers of the Sui Dynasty surrendered one after another.While continuing to besiege the Eastern Capital, the Wagang Army issued a call to crusade against Emperor Yang of Sui, denouncing his crimes and calling on the people to rise up and overthrow the rule of the Sui Dynasty.As a result, the entire Central Plains were shaken. Just as the Wagang Army was developing successfully, serious internal divisions occurred.After Zhai Rang gave up the position of leader to Li Mi, some generals under Zhai Rang were very reluctant.Someone advised Zhai Rang to take back the power, but Zhai Rang always laughed and didn't take it seriously.But when these words reached Li Mi's ears, Li Mi was very unhappy.Li Mi's subordinates urged him to get rid of Zhai Rang.In order to protect his status, Li Mi became cruel.

One day, Li Mi invited Zhai Rang to drink.In the middle of the banquet, Zhai Rang's soldiers were dismissed. Li Mi pretended to give Zhai Rang a good bow and asked him to try shooting.Zhai Rang turned around and just drew his bow.The knife and ax hand that Li Mi had arranged started to chop Zhai Rang down. From then on, the Wagang Army began to go downhill.However, an anti-Sui army in the north led by Li Yuan is growing stronger.