Why is Liu Xiu known as the "founding emperor on the back of an ox"? How did he succeed in proclaiming himself emperor?

Since ancient times, the status of emperors has been extremely noble, with endless glory and wealth. But Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, is called the "founding emperor on the back of an ox", which is really surprising. So why do others evaluate Liu Xiu like this? Let me give you a brief analysis.

Liu Xiu is the ninth grandson of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty and a descendant of Liu Mai, Marquis of Chongling Festival, son of Changsha King Liu Fa, son of Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty. He has the same great-great-grandfather Liu Mai as Emperor Gengshi. His father was Liu Qin, the Nandun Ling, and his mother was Fan Xiandu. Liu Xiu's tribe lived in Nanyang, and their status was getting worse from generation to generation. When Liu Xiu came here, they became commoners. In the last years of Xinmang, natural disasters such as floods and droughts continued, and the Central Plains was full of scenes of thousands of miles of red land and mourning people everywhere. Finally, during the Xinmang Tianfeng period, dozens of large and small peasant armies such as Chimei, Lulin, and Tongma rose up one after another. Suddenly, the sea fell apart and the world was in chaos.

After that, the Liu Xiu brothers and the descendants of the Nanyang clan raised an army in Chongling Township, Nanyang County. Therefore, the troops of the Liu Xiu brothers were called the Chongling Army in history. The main force of the Chung Ling Army was the Liu clan of Nanyang and the heroes of the county. They had few soldiers and few generals, and poor equipment. Even in the early days, Liu Xiu rode an ox into battle. This also became a good story in later generations' romances, the so-called "The founding emperor on the back of an ox". After a fierce battle, Xin Yewei was killed, and Liu Xiucai had a war horse.

In 23 years, Liu Xiu led the Green Forest Army of 30,000 to defeat Kunyang with less than 420,000 Wang Mang's army of 420,000. He killed his commander Wang Xun and achieved a great victory in Kunyang. In the 25th year, the Red Eyebrow Army established Liu Penzi as the puppet emperor and defeated Liu Xuan. Liu Xuan was killed after surrendering. On August 5, Liu Xiu ascended the throne as emperor in Haocheng and changed his name to Jianwu. The country's name was still Han, and it was known as the Eastern Han Dynasty in history.