Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of Qin, often said, "There is the aura of the Son of Heaven in the southeast," and he toured the east to suppress the aura of the Son of Heaven there. Emperor Gaozu suspected that he was involved, so he fled and hid, living in seclusion among the lakes and rocks of Mountain Mang and Mountain Dang. Empress Lü and others searched for him, and they always found him. Emperor Gaozu was surprised and asked Empress Lü why. Empress Lü said, "There are always clouds gathering above where you are, so follow the clouds which will lead to you." Emperor Gaozu was very happy. Some of the children in Pei County heard about this, so most of them wanted to follow him.
In the autumn of the first year of Qin II (209 BC), Chen Sheng (Chen She) and others raised an army in Qi County, and after arriving in Chen County, they proclaimed themselves kings, known as "Zhang Chu". Many people in counties and prefectures killed local officials to respond to Chen Sheng. The magistrate of Pei County was very scared and wanted to raise an army in Pei County to respond to Chen Sheng. Xiao He, the chief official, and Cao Shen, the prison official, said, "You are an official of the Qin Dynasty, but now you want to betray the Qin Dynasty and lead the people of Pei County to revolt. I am afraid they will not obey. I hope you can recall those who have fled and get a few hundred people. Use them to coerce the people, and they will not dare to disobey." So the county magistrate ordered Fan Kuai to recall Liu Ji. Liu Ji's followers already had somewhere around hundreds of people.
At this time, Fan Kuai followed Liu Ji back. The magistrate of Pei County regretted it and was afraid of accidents, so he closed the city gates for defense and wanted to kill Xiao He and Cao Shen. Xiao He and Cao Shen were very scared, so they climbed over the city wall to join Liu Ji for protection. Liu Ji wrote a letter on silk and shot it into the city, informing the elders of Pei County: "The people of the world have been suffering from the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty for a long time. Although the elders are now defending the city for the Pei County magistrate, the princes have all risen up to resist the Qin Dynasty and are about to massacre Pei County. Now the elders of Pei County should kill the county magistrate together, select their sons who can be the leader and nominate him to respond to the princes, so that their lives and property can be preserved. Otherwise, both father and son will be slaughtered, and it will be a waste of life." The elders led their sons and daughters to kill the Pei County magistrate, opened the city gates to welcome Liu Ji in, wanting to make him the Pei County magistrate. Liu Ji said: "The world is in chaos, and the princes have all risen up to rebel against the Qin Dynasty. If the generals we choose now are incompetent, we will be defeated. I dare not begrudge my life, but I am afraid that my talent is shallow and I cannot save the lives of my father, brothers and sons. This is a big deal, and I hope to choose another suitable person." Xiao He, Cao Shen and others were all civil servants. They were stingy with their lives and were afraid that if the matter did not succeed, the Qin Dynasty would exterminate them, so they all recommended Liu Ji. The elders said: "We often hear about Liu Ji's strange things. Liu Ji will definitely get rich and noble. Moreover, according to divination, no one is more auspicious than Liu Ji." So Liu Ji declined many times. Everyone was afraid to take the responsibility, so they recommended Liu Ji as the Duke of Pei. Everyone sacrificed to Huangdi and Chiyou in the courtyard of the Pei County government office, smeared the blood of livestock on the drums and flags, and dyed the flags red. Because the snake killed was the son of Baidi, the white emperor, and the person who killed the snake was the son of Chidi, the red emperor, so they admired the color red. At this time, young men and powerful officials in Pei County, such as Xiao He, Cao Shen, and Fan Kuai, gathered their young men for Pei Gong, and got close up to three thousand people. Together they attacked Hu Ling and Fang Yu and retreated to Fengyi.
秦始皇帝常曰“东南有天子气”，于是因东游以厌之。高祖即自疑，亡匿，隐于芒、砀山泽岩石之间。吕后与人俱求，常得之。高祖怪问之。吕后曰：“季所居上常有云气，故从往常得季。”高祖心喜。沛中子弟或闻之，多欲附者矣。
秦二世元年秋，陈胜等起蕲，至陈而王，号为“张楚”。诸郡县皆多杀其长吏以应陈涉。沛令恐，欲以沛应涉。掾、主吏萧何、曹参乃曰：“君为秦吏，今欲背之，率沛子弟，恐不听。愿君召诸亡在外者，可得数百人，因劫众，众不敢不听。”乃令樊哙召刘季。刘季之众已数十百人矣。
于是樊哙从刘季来。沛令后悔，恐其有变，乃闭城城守，欲诛萧、曹。萧、曹恐，逾城保刘季。刘季乃书帛射城上，谓沛父老曰：“天下苦秦久矣。今父老虽为沛令守，诸侯并起，今屠沛。沛今共诛令，择子弟可立者立之，以应诸侯，则家室完。不然，父子俱屠，无为也。”父老乃率子弟共杀沛令，开城门迎刘季，欲以为沛令。刘季曰：“天下方扰，诸侯并起，今置将不善，壹败涂地。吾非敢自爱，恐能薄，不能完父兄子弟。此大事，愿更相推择可者。”萧、曹等皆文吏，自爱，恐事不就，后秦种族其家，尽让刘季。诸父老皆曰：“平生所闻刘季诸珍怪，当贵，且卜筮之，莫如刘季最吉。”于是刘季数让。众莫敢为，乃立季为沛公。祠黄帝，祭蚩尤于沛庭，而衅鼓旗，帜皆赤。由所杀蛇白帝子，杀者赤帝子，故上赤。于是少年豪吏如萧、曹、樊哙等皆为收沛子弟二三千人，攻胡陵、方与，还守丰。
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