of
striking military ability, bringing his troops under strict discipline,
and defeating all his foes. Soldiers flocked to his ranks, his band
became an army, and in the crisis of the struggle he took a step that
made him famous in Chinese history. He ordered his soldiers to paint
their eyebrows red, as a sign that they were ready to fight to the last
drop of their blood. Then he issued the following proclamation to the
people: "If you meet the 'Crimson Eyebrows,' join yourselves to them; it
is the sure road to safety. You can fight the usurper's troops without
danger; but if you wish for death you may join Wang Mang's army."

The end of the war was not the end of the "Crimson Eyebrows." Fanchong
was ambitious, and a large number of his followers continued under his
flag. They had aided greatly in putting a Han emperor on the throne, but
they now became his most formidable foes, changing from patriots into
brigands, and keeping that part of the empire which they haunted in a
state of the liveliest alarm.

Against this thorn in the side of the realm the new emperor sent his
ablest commander, and a fierce campaign ensued, in which the brigand
band stubbornly fought for life and license. In the end they suffered a
crushing defeat, and for the time sank out of sight, but only to rise
again at a later date.

The general who had defeated them, an able prince of the Han family,
followed up his victory by seizing the throne itself and deposing the
weak emperor. The latter fled to the retreat of the remnant of the
brigand band, and begged their aid to restore him to the throne, but
Fanchong, who had no idea of placing a greater than himself at the head
of his band, escaped from the awkward position by putting his guest to
death.

Soon after the "Crimson Eyebrows" were in the field again, not as
supporters of an imperial refugee, but as open enemies of the public
peace, each man fighting for his own hand. While the new ruler was
making himself strong at Loyang, the new capital, Fanchong and his
brigands seized Changnan, Wang Mang's old capital, and pillaged it
mercilessly. Making it their head-quarters, they lived on the
inhabitants of the city and the surrounding district, holding on until
the rapid approach of the army of the emperor admonished them that it
was time to seek a safer place of retreat.

The army of the brigand chief grew until it was believed to exceed two
hundred thousand men, while their excesses were so