At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Huang Chao led the rebel army northward to attack Huncheng. After three days of siege, Huang Chao was so angry that he pointed to the tower and cursed it, threatening to break the city and make trouble.
At this time, the Chinese New Year is coming. It snows heavily and is very cold. Most soldiers haven't put on winter clothes yet. Huang Chao knew that hard attack would suffer, so he had to pull the team to the mountain first and fight again after the New Year.
The new year passed quickly, and everyone was pushing rice and grinding noodles, making glutinous rice balls and celebrating the Lantern Festival. Huang Chao believes that "The Art of War" says: "Know yourself and know yourself, and you will win every battle." Why don't I take advantage of people's holiday to go to town to feel the enemy's reality and then make a siege plan? Thought of here, he immediately called the brothers to discuss, handed over the rebel army to his younger brother, picked out the dumplings and carried them out of the camp, and went straight to Huncheng.
Huang Chao entered the gate and headed for West Street. Not far away, I saw a group of people pointing at something in front of the cross street. Just then, an old man selling vinegar came across the street, wearing a broken cotton-padded jacket and trousers, banging the banger in his hand. Huang Chao stepped forward and said, "Excuse me, old man, what happened ahead?" The old man looked at Huang Chao, looked around, pulled him to the side of the road and whispered, "Two days ago, Huang Chao led the troops to attack the city and went to the mountains. He will come again in a few days. The housekeeper posted a notice asking the people to send food, alas! This will be a big war. "
Just then, Huang Chao looked up and a group of people galloped. The soldier shouted as he ran: "Listen, everyone, Huang Chao has entered the city, and now the four doors are closed, so we can't escape. If we find any jiaozi, we will report it immediately. If you don't report it, you will kill the nine families! "
Huang Chao knew that there were traitors in the army, so he put down his burden and ran east, and hurried into an alley. Went into a yard and hid behind the door. When the cavalry passed by, it came out and ran north. Not far away, he heard the sound of hooves again. Knowing that the cavalry was back, he turned and got into a small yard.
Huang Chao plugged in the door and was about to enter the room when he saw an old man coming out of the room. It was the old man who talked to himself in the cross street and hurried over and said; . "Old man, be kind and hide me." The old man paused when he saw Huang Chao, and then nodded in agreement.
At this time, there was a quick pounding of hooves in the street, and then someone knocked at the door. The old man was in a hurry, so he didn't want to say anything. He hurriedly led Huang Chao to the backyard, came to the vinegar jar, opened the cylinder cover and let him in, saying, "Guest, be wronged first!" The old man was about to sweep the floor with a broom when suddenly the door was knocked open and a dozen officers and men broke in and surrounded the old man. The leader of the officers and men said, "Why do you want to insert the door in broad daylight?" The old man said, "I'm afraid thieves will come in and steal." The leader asked, "There is a great man. Where did you hide him? " The old man said, "My door is plugged in, and no one comes in!" " "A leader scolded," nonsense! He has obviously arrived. You don't want to live! " The old man said, "sir, if you don't believe me, please search." ".The leader ordered the search, and a dozen officers and men immediately entered the house, rummaged through everything, table tennis rang wildly, and many things were broken, and the jealousy was broken, and vinegar flowed all over the yard. Fortunately, they didn't continue to rummage.
After the officers and men left, Chao Huang climbed out of the jar and saw the yard full of broken pieces. The old man wept bitterly in front of the jar. He rushed over to comfort and said, "Don't cry, old man. I'll pay you a few mouthfuls in a couple of days. "
The old man stood up and said, "Sir, please go quickly. They are already ahead, and they will come back if they can't find anyone. "
Huang Chao asked, "Old man, it's not dark yet, and there are officers and men everywhere. Where can I get out of town? "
The old man said, "Go out of this alley, enter the opposite yard, and go out from the back to Tianqi Temple. You should hide in the temple first. After dark, walk south along the city wall, there is a gap more than two feet away, and you can go out from there. " Seeing that the old man was kind and honest, Huang Chao further asked, "Old man, what is the beauty of this city? Huang Chao's 100,000-strong army attacked for three days and was invincible? " The old man said, "The guest officer didn't know that this city was built during the first emperor's period. The city wall is high and thick, with rollers on it and archers hidden in the hatchback. "
Huang Chao asked, "Is that impossible?"
The old man said, "If you want to attack the city, you can't enter through the gate, but through the gap in Tianqi Temple." Huang Chao was very happy. He turned to go, and then turned to ask, "Grandpa, do you know who I am?" The old man hesitated: "You are General Huang." Huang Chao said, "Tang Bing accused me of killing people, and I didn't spit bones when I ate people. Aren't you afraid of me? " The old man said, "That's what the housekeeper said. Can the housekeeper have a good word? " We poor people look forward to your arrival. "Huang Chao was very moved. I didn't expect the people to respect him so much. He said, "Old man, do you have any red paper at home?" The old man said, "there is no ready-made, but you can buy it in the store." Huang Chao said, "On the fifteenth day of the first month, you buy some red paper, tie a lantern and hang it on the eaves. "
After Huang Chao left, the old man passed the news to his neighbors. Soon all the poor people in the city knew about it, and every household bought red paper lanterns.
Huang Chao returned to the camp and immediately called the soldiers to discuss. On the fifteenth night of the first month of the Gregorian calendar, he took 5,000 chosen men, touched the moat, and quietly entered the city according to the road pointed out by the old man. With a bugle call, both inside and outside were attacked, and soon the city gate was breached, and the insurgents entered the city!
At this time, the poor people hung red lights at their doorsteps, and the whole city was brightly lit. Rebels will not enter any river that is a red gate; When the red light didn't hang, the insurgents rushed in to catch corrupt officials and old money, and killed all corrupt officials, local tyrants and evil gentry in just one night. The next day, Huang Chao opened a warehouse to distribute food, and sent someone to send two hundred and twenty pieces of silver to the old man.
Since then, every household has hung a red light on the fifteenth day of the first month. This custom has been handed down.
◆ The origin of "inserting wormwood" in Dragon Boat Festival
Dragon Boat Festival was originally a festival to commemorate Qu Yuan. By the time of the Yellow Scarf Uprising in the Tang Dynasty, Huang Chao rebels attacked the Central Plains, that is, the Dragon Boat Festival. Local officials then released the wind: "Huang Chao shook his knife over the mountain and his head fell to the ground!" Mobilizing people to flee their homes is to "win Huang Chao". In fact, in order to control the expansion trend of the rebels, it is impossible for the rebels to contact with the people.
In a family in the Central Plains, all the men have gone out, and there is only one woman and two children at home. One child is her own and the other is her sister-in-law's orphan. Her own child has just learned to walk, and her sister-in-law's orphan is one year older than her own child. The woman ran away with two children and her sister-in-law's orphan, but let her toddler walk, but she fell behind. Not far away, I met a man in yellow and asked, "Why doesn't sister-in-law let the older child go and the younger one go?" The woman told the truth, and the man in yellow was very moved. She said, "Your fearless loyalty in a crisis has broken Huang Chao's knife, and Huang Chao can't take your head. In fact, as long as you insert wormwood in front of your house, it means that your family is loyal and Huang Chao can't help you. " Then he suddenly disappeared. The woman thought it was the fairy's advice, so she went home and did as she was told, and told the refugees to insert wormwood along the way to break Huang Chao's knife. Therefore, women are usually kind and do more good deeds. Many people think that it is unnecessary to "go to Huang Chao" to grow wormwood at home and spend the Dragon Boat Festival at home.
Sure enough, when the rebels crossed the border, they saw people with wormwood at home, and no one bothered them. Doctors stationed in the army also treat people and ask them about their sufferings. At that time, the story of women's meeting with immortals spread all over the country, and ordinary people stopped "going to Huang Chao" one after another, planting wormwood for the Dragon Boat Festival and performing loyalty for women.
In fact, the man in yellow is a forward counselor of the Huang Chao Rebel Army, and he is skilled in martial arts. Wherever the rebels go, there is no village, and the rebels are alone. Knowing that something was wrong, the counselor turned into plain clothes, looked for the reason alone and met a woman. Suddenly disappeared, jumped into a tree and hid. The counselor did a little trick, which not only broke the government's: "Huang Chao waved his knife over the mountain and his head fell to the ground!" " Rumors won the support of the people for the rebel army and made the people accumulate virtue and do good deeds, so the world inherited this tradition and became the custom of "inserting wormwood" on the Dragon Boat Festival today.
Liuhe is a Hakka, most of whom moved to Liuhe from the Central Plains. Therefore, most people keep the custom of "going to Huang Chao" and "planting wormwood".