After hearing the entire process of how Fan Meng and others impersonated Imperial Envoys, everyone shared the same thought as Old Zhu.
—How the hell has this shitty court managed to survive until now?
Zhu Wenzheng clenched his fists, while Niu Tou whispered, “That’s it? I think our father could be emperor too.”
Mu Qing nodded like a chick pecking at rice, “Our father could do it too!”
Of course he could—their father was more than capable.
The grown men present thought Fan Meng gathering the Mongol high officials while they were drunk and confused, then hammering them all to death, was already earth-shattering. They never expected what came next would shock them even more.
Was this really the same court that had been lording it over them?
Everyone looked dazed, and even Old Zhu began to question his life.
Mu Qing calmly continued watching. It was a bit early to start doubting life now—they could wait until after finishing the whole video to do that.
To be honest, even he hadn’t expected Brother Fan to be this hardcore before making this video. But while researching, he’d immediately reacted like the subway grandpa looking at his phone: This works? Huh? This actually works?
Good things should be shared with everyone—he shouldn’t be the only one left bewildered.
[Just talking about the officials in Henan Province might not give you an intuitive sense. Let’s first discuss what areas the Henan Province of the late Yuan Dynasty included, and then you’ll understand just how heavy Brother Fan’s hammer blows really were.]
[The provincial divisions back then were quite different from what we have now. The full name of Henan Province was Henan Jiangbei Province, which, as the name suggests, covered vast territories south of the Yellow River and north of the Yangtze River. During the Ming Dynasty, it was split and merged into Henan, Huguang, and Southern Zhili, later divided into what are now Henan, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu.]
[The functions of various provinces in the Yuan Dynasty each had their emphasis. Henan Jiangbei Province was one of the later-established among the eleven provinces of the Yuan Dynasty, but this didn’t affect its importance. The main functions of Henan Province were military garrisoning and controlling the Han regions, emphasizing its position in the national military garrison structure.]
[At that time, Henan Province controlled the Central Plains and Jiangnan, governing twelve circuits, eight prefectures, and thirty-four subprefectures, including present-day central and southern Henan, central and northern Jiangsu, central and northern Anhui, central and northern Hubei, and southwestern Shandong. The provincial capital was Bianliang Circuit, which is Kaifeng.]
[We’ll discuss the specific situation of Henan Jiangbei Province later. For now, the focus is on how high-ranking these Mongol officials killed by Fan Meng were, and how significant the impact of killing them was on the current situation.]
[When the Yuan Dynasty established the provincial system, the Chief Administrator served as the principal position in each province, with Pingzhang as deputy. However, the Chief Administrator’s power became too great. By the late Yuan Dynasty, the emperor, fearing his ministers would usurp power, stopped appointing Chief Administrators in some provinces, instead having Pingzhang directly wield authority, assisted by Left and Right Administrators below.]
[Given the importance of Henan Province, the court paid close attention to official appointments here. Before officials took up their posts, the emperor would repeatedly admonish them—only the emperor’s close confidants could serve as officials there.]
【Among those killed by Fan Meng and his accomplices were high-ranking officials including the Chief Administrator of Henan Province, Left Chancellor of Henan Province, Commander of Bianliang Road, Henan Jiangbei Circuit Commissioner of Investigation, Judge, Secretary, Executive Officer, and Supervisor from various departments. Translating their positions into modern equivalents would be: the top leader of the four-province joint government of Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, and Anhui; the head of the General Office of the four-province joint government; the head of the Public Security Department of the four-province joint government; the head of the Judicial Department of the four-province joint government; the Commander-in-Chief of the Henan-Hubei-Jiangsu-Anhui Military Region, and a string of other military and political dignitaries.】
【With these deaths, Henan Province was left leaderless. If the court in Dadu failed to respond promptly, the bureaucratic system of Henan Province was on the brink of collapse.】
The video replaced official titles with terms more understandable to modern audiences, but those present found them confusing instead.
General Office? Public Security Department? What were these? Why did the government offices of later times sound so strange?
It didn’t matter if they didn’t understand—they could note it down and study it later.
The incident was simply too shocking, and they still found it hard to believe. “That was the Chief Administrator, a first-rank official of the court. How could they just kill him like that?”
No one could answer that question; they all wanted to know.
The heavenly voice’s earlier mention of the emperor recalling Tuotuo by changing commanders mid-battle had already come true, so Fan Meng’s incident should also be real… right?
None present could be sure, so they could only keep watching the light screen.
【After killing their targets, Fan Meng and his group dumped the bodies in the backyard. Then, they opened a wax-sealed letter, claiming that those they had just killed were all guilty and that they had imperial edicts as proof—they were carrying out the emperor’s orders to execute corrupt officials.】
【Those present who had not been killed were terrified out of their wits, fearing that any misstep might send them to heaven with a single blow. Who would dare refute their claims? They had no choice but to agree with whatever was said, nodding meekly without a hint of dissent.】
【Tsk, tsk, tsk. This plan of gathering people under false pretenses and then slaughtering them wholesale probably took inspiration from Er Zhurong. However, while Er Zhurong earned infamy after the “Heyin Incident,” Brother Fan did not.】
【Huo Bashi and the others produced a forged imperial edict appointing Fan Meng as Grand Marshal of Henan Jiangbei Province. Fan Meng personally wore the Pingzhang’s Mobilization Tally, imposed a city-wide curfew, ordered all streets to be cleared of pedestrians, and then blockaded all crossings along the Yangtze River and Yellow River, cutting off north-south traffic to prevent Dadu from learning what had happened in Henan Province. Subsequently, they issued mobilization orders in the name of the provincial government, commanding all regional armies across the province to gather in Bianliang.】
【While the troops assembled, they were far from idle. They went through every major and minor government office in the province, confiscating all official seals. Those who refused to surrender their seals were executed.】
【Brother Fan had worked at the grassroots level for twenty years. While higher-ups indulged in pleasure, the actual work fell to subordinates. Over two decades, he had gained an intimate knowledge of every government office, making forging a Mobilization Tally a trivial task for him.】
【None of the military officers under Henan Province detected any issues with the Mobilization Tally. After verifying the tally, they all obediently mobilized their troops.】
【Fan Meng and his allies caught the entire Henan officialdom off guard with lightning speed, seizing control of the province’s military and political power within just a few days.】
【Although the story sounds fabricated—so much so that even fiction readers might criticize it as unrealistic—reality often defies logic.】
【Forces from all routes converged at Bianliang. Brother Fan had everything ready, lacking only the formal declaration of rebellion.】
【However, unexpected events occurred once again.】
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, “With all troops from Henan Jiangbei Province concentrated at Bianliang, the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of troops couldn’t possibly go unnoticed. What unexpected events could still occur?”
Xu Da chuckled, “There could be plenty of surprises. If he had truly succeeded, we would have heard something about it. The heavenly voice’s earlier account was so bizarre, what follows must be even more extraordinary.”
Mu Qing whispered earnestly, “Uncle Xu is right.”
Zhu Wenzhong turned his head, “How would you know?”
Mu Qing lifted his eyes mysteriously, “Because I’m a child, I can see things you cannot.”
Zhu Wenzhong: …
Zhu Wenzhong rubbed his arms and subtly moved away from his little brother.
Though he knew the brat was trying to scare him, with that mysterious light screen hanging before them, such words did feel rather eerie.
【Fan Meng, together with Huo Bashi and others, directed operations and issued commands at the provincial government office. As the Grand Marshal of Henan Jiangbei Province held the authority to dismiss officials, he first had Huo Bashi appoint him as Grand Marshal, then extensively promoted Han officials. These appointments extended beyond the provincial government to include prefectures under the circuit and counties under the prefectures, involving the entire officialdom of Henan. He even appointed a Pingzhang.】
【As the saying goes: Returning home without displaying one’s wealth is like wearing fine clothes at night.】
【Having accomplished such great deeds, Brother Fan, through all his deception, probably truly came to see himself as the provincially appointed Grand Marshal. He executed all disobedient officials from surrounding government offices and put their heads on public display, leaving only the timid and compliant. Having risen from an oppressed low-level clerk to such heights overnight, wouldn’t he want to return home to let the Fan family ancestors share in his joy?】
【Thus, Fan Meng, under the title of Grand Marshal of Henan Province, returned to his hometown with straightened back to pay respects at his ancestral graves. His home was in Qi County, under the jurisdiction of Bianliang Circuit. For this short distance, he managed to stretch his triumphant journey to a full five days.】
【These five days weren’t merely spent dawdling on the road. He resumed his old practices, binding and taking away Mongol officials from every government office he passed. Upon reaching his hometown, his first act was to use those Mongol officials’ heads to celebrate, showing his fellow villagers how accomplished Fan Meng had become.】
Old Zhu’s frown deepened, “Growing arrogant upon gaining power—no wonder he failed.”
Tang He sighed, “Did he only kill Mongols, or Han officials as well?”
Li Shanchang’s expression also darkened, “Though Mongol officials were often tyrannical, some among them governed properly. Killing indiscriminately without distinction makes him no different from those bullying Mongols.”
Hua Yun, after struggling for a long time, finally managed to utter, “That fool isn’t worth scheming with!”
They had initially felt a certain kinship with the guy—after all, they wouldn’t have taken the path of rebellion unless driven to desperation by oppression.
But now, forget it. They were reasonable people who didn’t engage in indiscriminate killing.
Fortunately, that fellow didn’t succeed, or many would have died unjustly at his hands.
【After Fan Meng and his companions impersonated Imperial Envoys and carried out widespread executions, they immediately sealed off north-south transportation. However, with such major changes occurring in Henan Province, even blocked routes couldn’t prevent news from reaching Dadu.】
At that time, Guo Ge had not yet assumed personal rule, and real power remained with Tuotuo’s uncle Bayan. Upon hearing about the calamity that had befallen the officials in Henan, both men were utterly bewildered, their first reaction being disbelief. How could a low-ranking minor official wipe out all the heads of various offices in the provincial government hall and then seize control of the entire military and administrative authority of Henan Province? It seemed impossible.
Bayan didn’t believe it, and Guo Ge believed it even less. Henan Province was Bayan’s stronghold for cultivating cronies and engaging in partisan corruption, so Guo Ge suspected the reports were deliberately spread by Bayan to deceive him.
The court in Dadu hastily dispatched a genuine Imperial Envoy south to investigate. However, before the real envoy could arrive, Fan Meng and his cohorts had already fallen from power.
Fan Meng’s exposure was equally dramatic. After getting high-ranking officials like the Pingzhang and Left Chancellor drunk, he had them brutally executed with hammers. Yet, he failed to learn from this lesson. Once in power, he indulged in drinking and revelry, eager to make up for all the luxuries he had missed in previous decades.
As various military forces in Henan Province gathered in Bianliang, Fan Meng prepared to formally raise the banner of rebellion. He appointed numerous Han Chinese officials, including one named Feng Ershe as an Envoy. Overwhelmed with excitement at the unexpected high office, Feng went to Fan Meng to request an audience with the Imperial Envoy, hoping to express his gratitude in person.
But that day, Fan Meng was heavily intoxicated and, carried away by arrogance, blurted out: “What Imperial Envoy? I am the Imperial Envoy! Whatever official position you desire, just name it, and I can grant it to you.”
This immediately raised Feng Ershe’s suspicions. He secretly reported the group to the Pacification Office, which promptly arrested and executed them.
Thus, alcohol proved to be Fan Meng’s undoing. His grand rebellion ended abruptly before it even began, leaving one at a loss for words.
Everyone present: ???
The gravedigger of the Great Yuan Dynasty? That’s it?
Chapter 19
After hearing the entire process of how Fan Meng and the others had impersonated an Imperial Envoy, everyone’s thoughts were the same as Old Zhu’s.
—How the hell has this shitty court managed to last until now?
Zhu Wenzheng clenched his fists. Niu Tou whispered, “That’s it? I think if our dad became emperor, he could do it too.”
Mu Qing nodded like a chick pecking at rice. “Our dad could do it too!”
Of course, their old man was more than capable.
The old gentlemen present had thought Fan Meng gathering the high-ranking Mongol officials and bludgeoning them all to death while they were drunk was already earth-shattering. They never expected something even more shocking to follow.
Was this really the court that lorded over them and oppressed them?
The group of men looked dazed, and even Old Zhu began to doubt his life.
Mu Qing calmly continued to watch. It was a bit early to start doubting life now; it wouldn’t be too late to do so after watching the entire video.
To be honest, before he made this video, he hadn’t expected Brother Fan to be so hardcore. But while researching, he had basically reenacted the “old man on the subway looking at his phone” meme: This is possible? Huh? This is also possible?
Good things should be shared with everyone; he couldn’t be the only one left dumbfounded.
【Just hearing about these officials from Henan Province might not give you a clear picture. Let’s first talk about what areas the Henan Province of the late Yuan included, and then you’ll understand just how heavy Brother Fan’s hammer blow was.】
【The provincial divisions back then were different from ours today. The full name of Henan Province was Henan Jiangbei Province. As the name suggests, it was a large area south of the Yellow River and north of the Yangtze River. During the Ming Dynasty, it was dismantled and merged into Henan, Huguang, and Southern Zhili, and only later was it divided into the modern-day Henan, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu.】
【During the Yuan Dynasty, each province had a different functional focus. Henan Jiangbei Province was one of the later ones established among the eleven provinces of the Yuan Dynasty, but this didn’t diminish its importance. The main functions of Henan Province were military garrisoning and controlling the various provinces in Han territory, with a particular emphasis on its position within the national military garrison structure.】
【At that time, Henan Province controlled the Central Plains and Jiangnan, administering twelve circuits, eight prefectures, and thirty-four subprefectures. This included areas like south-central Henan, north-central Jiangsu, north-central Anhui, north-central Hubei, and southwestern Shandong today. The provincial seat was Bianliang Circuit, which is modern-day Kaifeng.】
【We’ll introduce the specific situation of Henan Jiangbei Province later. The main point now is just how high the status of these Mongol high officials bludgeoned to death by Fan Meng was, and how great the impact of their deaths was on the political situation.】
【When the Yuan Dynasty established the provincial system, the Chancellor of a province was the chief official, and the Chief Administrator was the deputy. However, the provincial Chancellor’s power was too great. By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the emperor feared his subjects would usurp power, so some provinces no longer had a Chancellor. The Chief Administrator directly held power, assisted by the Left and Right Chancellors below him.】
【Given the importance of Henan Province, the court was very careful about appointing officials there. Before an official took up his post, the emperor would give him repeated instructions. You couldn’t even become an official there if you weren’t a trusted confidant of the emperor.】
【Among those who died at the hands of Fan Meng and his men were high-ranking officials from various departments: the Chief Administrator of Henan Province, the Left Chancellor of Henan Province, the Commander of Bianliang Road, the Henan Jiangbei Circuit Commissioner of Investigation, the Judge, the Secretary, the Executive Officer, the Supervisor, and others. To translate their official titles, it would be: the head of the joint government of Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, and Anhui; the head of the general office of the joint government; the head of the public security department of the joint government; the head of the judicial department of the joint government; the commander-in-chief of the Henan-Hubei-Jiangsu-Anhui military region, and a string of other top military and political officials.】
【With these men dead, Henan Province was left without a leader. If the court in Dadu didn’t react in time, the bureaucratic system of Henan Province wouldn’t be far from collapse.】
The video replaced the official titles with names that were easier for a modern audience to understand, but this made them incomprehensible to the current audience.
General office? Public security department? What were all these? Why did the government offices of later generations sound so strange?
It didn’t matter if they didn’t understand. They would just note it down and study it slowly later.
But this matter was just too appalling. They still couldn’t quite believe it. “That’s a Chief Administrator, a first-rank official of the court. Was he really killed just like that?”
No one could answer this question. They all wanted to know the answer.
The heavenly voice had previously mentioned the emperor replacing his commander mid-battle and recalling Tuotuo, which had already come true. This business with Fan Meng was probably also true… right?
No one present was sure. They could only continue to stare at the light screen.
【After Fan Meng and his men killed the officials, they dumped the bodies in the back garden. Then they broke open the wax-sealed letter and declared that the men they had just killed were all guilty, with an imperial edict as proof. They were acting on the emperor’s orders to execute criminal officials.】
【The people present who weren’t killed were scared witless, terrified that a careless move would get them bludgeoned to death too. How would they dare to refute them? Of course, they accepted whatever was said, meekly complying without a single objection.】
【Tsk, tsk, tsk. This plan of finding an excuse to gather people together and then going on a killing spree was probably learned from Erzhu Rong. However, Erzhu Rong earned eternal infamy after the “Heyin Incident,” while Brother Fan did not.】
【Huo Bashi and the others produced a fake imperial edict appointing Fan Meng as the Grand Marshal of Henan Jiangbei Province. He then took the Pingzhang’s Mobilization Tally for himself, imposed a city-wide curfew, and ordered that no one was allowed to walk on any street, big or small. Immediately after, he blockaded all ferry crossings on the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, cutting off north-south transportation so that Dadu couldn’t find out what had happened in Henan Province. Then, in the name of the provincial government office, he issued mobilization orders, commanding the armies from all circuits in the province to gather in Bianliang.】
【They didn’t stay idle while the armies were assembling. They went through every government office in the province, large and small, and confiscated all the official seals. Those who refused to hand over their seals were killed.】
【Brother Fan had worked at the grassroots level for twenty years. The officials above him were busy feasting and having fun, while all the work was done by the people below. After twenty years, he knew every government office like the back of his hand. Forging a Mobilization Tally was a piece of cake for him.】
【The military officers from the various circuits under Henan Province didn’t notice any problem with the Mobilization Tally. After verifying the tallies, they all obediently dispatched their troops.】
【With the speed of a thunderclap, Fan Meng and his men caught the entire officialdom of Henan off guard. In just a few short days, they had seized control of the entire province’s military and political power.】
【Although this story sounds like something made up—so much so that even in fiction, readers would complain the plot is too unrealistic—reality is just that illogical.】
【With the armies from all circuits gathered in Bianliang, Brother Fan had everything ready. All that was left was to officially raise the banner of rebellion.】
【But then, another accident happened.】
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. “All the troops of Henan Jiangbei Province are concentrated in Bianliang. The movement of several hundred thousand troops can’t possibly have gone unnoticed. What other accident could have happened?”
Xu Da chuckled. “There are plenty of accidents. If this guy had really succeeded, it’s impossible that we wouldn’t have heard a single thing about him. The heavenly voice made the beginning sound so bizarre, the end must be even more bizarre.”
Mu Qing said softly with a straight face, “Uncle Xu is right.”
Zhu Wenzhong turned his head. “How do you know?”
Mu Qing raised his eyes eerily. “Because I’m a child. I can see things you can’t.”
Zhu Wenzhong: …
Zhu Wenzhong rubbed his arms and quietly scooted a little farther away from his little brother.
Although he knew the brat was just trying to scare him, with the mysterious light screen hanging in front of them, what he said was genuinely a bit creepy.
【Fan Meng, in league with Huo Bashi and others, was directing affairs from the provincial government office. The position of Grand Marshal of Henan Jiangbei Province allowed him to dismiss officials. He first had Huo Bashi appoint him as Grand Marshal, then he extensively promoted Han officials. The appointments weren’t just limited to the provincial government office; he didn’t spare the subprefectures under the circuits or the counties under the subprefectures. The entire officialdom of Henan was involved. He even promoted someone to be a Pingzhang.】
【As the saying goes: To not return to one’s hometown in glory is like wearing brocade at night.】
【After pulling off such a huge feat, Brother Fan probably got so caught up in his own deception that he truly saw himself as the court-appointed Grand Marshal of the province. He had all the disobedient officials from the surrounding offices beheaded as a public example, leaving only the timid and obedient ones. He had skyrocketed from a low-level clerk who could be bullied by anyone. How could he not return to his hometown to make the ancestors of his Fan family proud?】
【And so, Fan Meng, holding his head high under the title of Grand Marshal of Henan Province, returned to his hometown to pay respects at his ancestral graves. His home was in Qi County, right under the jurisdiction of Bianliang Circuit. For this short distance, he ostentatiously took a full five days to travel.】
【These five days weren’t just spent dawdling on the road. He had returned to his old ways. Every time he passed a government office, he would tie up the Mongol officials inside and take them away. The first thing he did upon returning to his hometown was to use the heads of those Mongol officials for entertainment, showing his fellow villagers just how successful he, Fan Meng, had become.】
Old Zhu’s frown deepened. “To get carried away by success the moment he gained power. No wonder he couldn’t accomplish anything.”
Tang He sighed. “Did he only kill Mongols, or did he kill Han officials as well?”
Li Shanchang’s expression wasn’t very good either. “The Mongol officials are brutal and arbitrary, but there are still some among them who are proper officials. To kill them indiscriminately like this, without distinguishing right from wrong, what’s the difference between him and those Mongols who bully the weak?”
Hua Yun held it in for a long time before squeezing out a sentence, “Such a base fellow is not worth conspiring with!”
Just a moment ago, they had felt a sense of kinship with that man. If they hadn’t been bullied to the point of being unable to live, they wouldn’t have walked the path of rebellion either.
But now, forget it. They were all reasonable, good people who wouldn’t do something as despicable as indiscriminately killing the innocent.
It was a good thing that fellow didn’t succeed. Otherwise, a large number of people would have surely died unjustly at his hands.
【After Fan Meng and his men impersonated the Imperial Envoy and went on a killing spree, they immediately blockaded north-south transportation. But with such a huge upheaval in Henan Province, even blockading transportation couldn’t stop news from reaching Dadu.】
【At that time, Guo Ge had not yet taken personal rule; the one in power was still Tuotuo’s uncle, Bayan. When these two heard that the officials in Henan had met with such a disaster, they were dumbfounded. Their first reaction was disbelief. A low-ranking clerk had wiped out the heads of every major department in the main hall of the provincial government office, and then seized control of the entire province’s military and political power? How was that possible?】
【Bayan didn’t believe it, and Guo Ge believed it even less. Henan Province was Bayan’s main base for cultivating cronies and forming cliques. He thought the news was deliberately spread by Bayan to fool him.】
【Dadu hurriedly sent a real Imperial Envoy south to investigate. However, before the real Imperial Envoy even arrived, Fan Meng and his group had already fallen.】
【Brother Fan’s exposure was also very dramatic. The high officials like the Pingzhang and Left Chancellor had been bludgeoned to death by him after a drinking session, yet he didn’t learn his lesson. After gaining power, he indulged in drinking and merrymaking, not missing a single thing, as if he wanted to make up for all the enjoyment he had missed in the past few decades all at once.】
【The armies from all over Henan Province were gathered in Bianliang, and Brother Fan was preparing to officially raise the banner of rebellion. He appointed many Han officials, among whom was a man named Feng Ershe, who was appointed as an Envoy. Old Feng never thought he could hold such a high office in his life. He was extremely excited, so he went to Fan Meng and said he wanted to request an audience with the Imperial Envoy to thank him face-to-face.】
【But, well, Brother Fan was very drunk that day. Carried away by his success, he blurted out, “What Imperial Envoy? I am the Imperial Envoy. What other office do you want? Just say the word, and I can make it happen.”】
【And just like that, it was over. Feng Ershe sensed something was wrong. He secretly reported the group to the Pacification Office, who then turned around, arrested them, and had them killed.】
【So, you see, drinking ruins everything. Brother Fan’s bright future in rebellion ended so anticlimactically before it even began. It really leaves one at a loss for words.】
Everyone present: ???
The gravedigger of the Great Yuan Dynasty? That’s it?