Chapter 41 221 One-eyed stone man

After Chengzong of the Yuan Dynasty, there were nine more emperors. The internal struggles in the royal family were very fierce, the politics became more and more corrupt, and the people suffered a lot.After the last emperor Yuanshun Emperor (also known as Yuan Huizong) Tuo Huan Tie Muer came to the throne, he was licentious and brutal, causing the treasury to be empty and prices soaring. The people could not bear it, and peasant uprisings broke out in many places. There is a farmer in Hebei named Han Shantong. His grandfather was a teacher. He used the form of preaching to secretly organize farmers to rebel against the Yuan Dynasty. He was discovered by the government and exiled to Yongnian (northeast of Handan, Hebei today).After Han Shantong grew up, he continued to organize the White Lotus Society (a secret religious organization), gathering many suffering farmers to burn incense and worship Buddha.Han Shantong said to them: Now the world is in chaos, and the Buddha will send Maitreya Buddha down to save the people.This legend soon spread to Henan and Jianghuai areas, and the common people hoped that one day, Maitreya Buddha would really come down to earth.

Just at this time, the Yellow River broke through the Baimao Dike, and it rained for more than 20 days in a row, causing floods and causing serious floods to the people on both sides of the river.Someone suggested to the court that the breach should be blocked, and a river should be dug in Huanglinggang (now southwest of Cao County, Shandong) to dredge the river.In 1351 AD, the Yuan Dynasty confiscated 150,000 migrant workers and 20,000 soldiers from Bianliang (now Kaifeng, Henan) and Daming to open a river in Huanglinggang. The river repair project started.Under the scorching sun and heavy rain, the migrant workers were forced to work desperately day and night, but the funds allocated by the imperial court for opening the river were withheld by the river management officials.The migrant workers who built the river couldn't even get enough to eat, and complained a lot.

Han Shantong decided to seize this opportunity and mobilize the masses.He first sent hundreds of disciples to work as river bearers, and spread a folk song on the construction site: "The stone man has one eye, stirring up rebellion across the Yellow River." The migrant workers didn't understand what the ballad meant, but when they heard the words "the world is against" in it, they felt that better days were coming.When Kaihe reached Huanglinggang, several migrant workers dug and dug, and suddenly a stone man was dug out.Everyone came together curiously to have a look, only to see that there was only one eye on the stone man's face, and they couldn't help being stunned.This new story quickly spread among hundreds of thousands of migrant workers. Everyone thought in their hearts that what the folk song said had really come true. Now that the stone man came out, the day of the world's rebellion will naturally come.

Needless to say, this stone man was buried there secretly by Han Shantong in advance. The people were agitated.Han Shantong had a partner, Liu Futong, who told Han Shantong that now the Yuan Dynasty oppressed the people so much that the people still miss the Song Dynasty.If the banner of restoring the Song Dynasty is raised, more people will support it.Han Shantong agreed with this proposition very much, so he announced to everyone that Han Shantong's surname was not Han, but Zhao, and he was the eighth-generation grandson of Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty according to his seniority; Liu Futong was also a descendant of Liu Guangshi, a general of the Southern Song Dynasty.What they said was so full of nose and eyes that the common people couldn't help but believe it when they heard it.

Han Shantong and Liu Futong chose a day, gathered a group of people, killed a white horse and a black cow, and sacrificed to heaven and earth.Everyone promoted Han Shantong as the leader, known as "King of Ming Dynasty", and agreed on a date to revolt in Yingshang, Yingzhou (now Fuyang, Yingshang, Honghui). He wrapped his head with a red scarf as a sign of the rebel army. When he was making an oath with blood, someone leaked News. The government sent soldiers to arrest Han Shantong, took him to the county government office and killed him. Han Shantong's wife and his son Han Lin'er escaped from the government's pursuit and hid in Wu'an (now Wu'an, Hebei).

Liu Futong escaped from the siege, gathered the peasants who agreed to revolt, and captured some strongholds such as Yingzhou.It turned out that the migrant workers who opened the river in Huanglinggang also killed the river official when they got the news, and defected to Liu Futong's team one after another.Because the uprising soldiers wore red scarves on their heads, the people at that time called them the Red Army, and it was called the Red Scarf Army in history.In less than ten days, the Red Scarf Army has grown to more than 100,000 people. The Yuan Dynasty was frightened when they heard Liu Futong's momentum, and hurriedly mobilized the Asu Army composed of 6,000 Semu people and several Han troops to suppress the Red Turban Army.The Aso Army was originally an elite team of the Yuan Dynasty, but at that time, it was already very corrupt. The generals only knew how to drink and enjoy themselves, and the soldiers robbed everywhere.As soon as he met the Red Scarf Army, before they could fight each other, the chief general took the lead, waving his whip, and fled backward on his horse, yelling, "Abu, Abu!" (Abu means to go.) The following When the soldiers saw that the general had fled in battle, they all scattered and fled.

A month later, Liu Futong's Red Turban Army successively captured a number of cities.Farmers in the Jianghuai area have long been influenced by the White Lotus Society. When they heard of Liu Futong's uprising, they responded one after another. Xu Shouhui from Qishui (now Xishui, Hubei, Qiyin qi) and Guo Zixing from Haozhou (now Fengyang, Anhui) all fought The banner of the Red Scarf Army revolted.There are also those who do not play the banner of the Red Turban Army, like Zhang Shicheng in northern Jiangsu. In 1354 A.D., Emperor Yuan Shun sent Prime Minister Tuotuo to gather the kings and provinces, and mobilized troops from the Western Regions and Western Fans, known as millions, to besiege Zhang Shicheng's rebel army who occupied Gaoyou.Gaoyou City was completely besieged.When the rebel army was in critical condition, civil strife suddenly broke out in the Yuan Dynasty.Emperor Yuan Shun ordered the removal of Tuotuo's official rank.The million-yuan army lost its commander, and the whole army collapsed without a fight.

After the Yuan army collapsed, Liu Futong's northern uprising army took the opportunity to attack and smashed the Yuan army.In February of the following year, Liu Futong took Han Shantong's son Han Lin'er to Bozhou (now Bo County, Anhui Province) and officially proclaimed himself emperor, and the country's name was Song.Han Lin'er was called Xiao Ming Wang. After Han Lin'er and Liu Futong established political power in Bozhou, they divided their troops into three groups and set off for the Northern Expedition.The West Route Army, led by Li Wu and Cui De, attacked Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and Sichuan; the East Route Army, led by Mao Gui, approached the capital of the Yuan Dynasty from Shandong and Hebei; the Central Route Army was led by Mr. Guan, Potou Pan, etc. , From Shanxi to Liaodong, and cooperated with the East Route Army to attack Dadu.

All three Northern Expeditionary armies made great progress.Mao Gui's East Route Army fought all the way to the city of Yuan Dadu.Liu Futong personally led the army to capture Bianliang, took Xiaoming Wang Han Lin'er to Bianliang, and designated it as the capital.The Red Scarf Army was so powerful that the Yuan Dynasty panicked and the landlords were assembled to step up their suppression. The three Northern Expeditions failed successively, and Bianliang fell into the hands of the Yuan Army.The Yuan Dynasty recruited Zhang Shicheng with a high-ranking official, Houlu. After Liu Futong protected King Xiaoming and fled to Anfeng (now Shou County, Anhui), he was attacked by Zhang Shicheng. In 1363 AD, Liu Futong died in the battle.After twelve years of fighting, the Northern Rebel Army finally failed.