When Fan Meng’s death was announced, the Council Hall erupted in an uproar.
They thought that since the heavenly voice called Fan Meng the “Grave Digger of the Great Yuan,” his death should have been spectacular. Instead, it ended so anticlimactically—they hadn’t had their fill of laughing at the court’s misfortunes yet.
Xu Da slapped his face to wake himself up, still looking somewhat dazed. “Brother, the immortal said Fan Meng was the Grave Digger of the Great Yuan. I think we qualify too.”
Hua Yun and the others didn’t argue with Old Xu this time, because they felt the same way.
Fan Meng forged an imperial decree and killed a group of high-ranking officials in Henan Province. When they rose in rebellion, they had also killed court officials. The only difference was that Fan Meng’s shovel dug deeper, while theirs only scratched the surface.
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head. “It’s not that simple. Don’t get distracted—keep listening.”
It was true that Fan Meng died hastily, and the high officials he killed earlier were real. But their rebellion couldn’t be compared to Fan Meng’s. A starved camel is still bigger than a horse—the court over a decade ago hadn’t fallen to the wretched state it was in now.
Li Shanchang stroked his beard and sighed. “Henan Province controls Jianghuai to the south, leans against Xiaohan to the west, and restrains Yehai Dai to the east. Over a decade ago, the military forces here were strong. For Fan Meng to kill so many court-appointed officials before his death is truly unbelievable.”
Zhu Wenzheng nodded gravely. “That’s why they say alcohol leads to trouble. Uncle Geng, you should be careful—even when drinking at home, don’t overdo it.”
Geng Zaicheng rubbed his nose and muttered under his breath, “Does the heavenly voice know what we’re talking about? Why bring up alcohol out of nowhere?”
No more drinking. He, Geng Zaicheng, was a upright and honorable man who would die a heroic death—not end anticlimactically like Fan Meng.
Li Shanchang chuckled. “Fan Meng isn’t the only one who got into trouble because of drinking. If those Mongol high officials they bludgeoned to death hadn’t been drunk, they might have exposed their fake Imperial Envoy identities on the spot.”
Zhu Yuanzhang pinched his chin. “There’s something fishy going on—definitely something fishy.”
Coincidentally, it was as if the heavenly voice could truly hear their discussion—whatever they wanted to hear next was exactly what followed.
[Henan Province controlled the Central Plains and Jiangnan. Its importance in garrisoning troops and supplying military provisions far surpassed that of other provinces in the Yuan Dynasty. Contemporaries remarked: Since the state entered the territorial administration from the Central Plains, Henan Province has been particularly crucial. It lies with mountains at its back and rivers before it, with fertile land and talented people, serving as the capital of the Central Plains. Its strength is sufficient to internally protect the capital, its influence enough to externally control the various states, and its annual revenue ample to supply military provisions. This illustrates its significance.]
[Such valuable territory would naturally not be overlooked by powerful ministers dominating the court, especially since Bayan originally rose from Henan. When Guo Ge first ascended the throne, that place was Bayan’s political stronghold. There, he formed cliques for personal gain—the entire province answered to him rather than the emperor.]
[Because this matter was so outrageous, and shortly afterward Guo Ge collaborated with Tuotuo to exile Bayan, many speculated whether Fan Meng was actually Guo Ge’s man? Was the emperor backing him from behind the scenes in this scheme?]
Li Shanchang nodded thoughtfully. “That possibility can’t be ruled out.”
The others chimed in agreement, “Exactly! How could a mere clerk mobilize the entire province’s troops? Someone must have been pulling his strings behind the scenes. Perhaps the Tiger Tally in his hands wasn’t fake, but the real one secretly given to him by the emperor.”
They were no longer the ones who knew nothing about the imperial court. The heavenly voice had previously mentioned that the emperor and Tuotuo had joined forces to seize power from Bayan, and the Fan Meng incident was likely part of their power-seizure plan.
Bayan was a powerful minister who dominated the court, with Henan Jiangbei Province as his stronghold. He himself had once served as Chief Administrator in Henan Province. To wrest power from him, they couldn’t just target Dadu—they had to dismantle his stronghold as well.
However, they were still too naive. They had only discussed it briefly when the heavenly voice refuted this speculation.
[Although this speculation makes some sense, unfortunately, after comparing and analyzing different historical records, the previous conjecture does not hold. Fan Meng truly wasn’t the emperor’s man. He was simply oppressed for too long and resorted to desperate measures to retaliate against those who had bullied him.]
[It’s just absurd—the more you hear, the more unbelievable it gets. Who would have thought such a major incident started merely because an insignificant minor official had his wages withheld?]
The listeners: …
Yeah, they still couldn’t believe it.
After his shock, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a wave of fear. “You’ve all seen what happens when you push people too far. From now on, we must be diligent in leading our troops. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely do not withhold what belongs to our soldiers.”
Their situation was different from the imperial court’s. The court had its rules, and officials usually endured grievances for stability. They were rebels, driven to this path out of desperation. If their soldiers fought tooth and nail only to have their provisions and pay withheld, they would surely revolt.
With enemies lurking on all sides, internal chaos was the last thing they needed. A military mutiny was no joke.
Li Shanchang also felt a chill down his spine. “A thousand-mile dike can collapse because of an ant hole. One misstep could lead to eternal ruin.”
Old Li’s words were poetic, but his meaning was the same as Old Zhu’s.
If a minor clerk like Fan Meng could turn ruthless and kill so many high-ranking officials, who knew if such a fierce person might emerge among them?
The trusted aides present sat upright, thoroughly frightened by Fan Meng’s actions. Even if they weren’t the type to bully the weak, and even if they occasionally had wicked thoughts in the future, remembering what they witnessed today would scare those bad ideas away.
They led by example, they remained uncorrupted—they didn’t want to become laughingstocks for posterity.
Li Shanchang twitched his lips. “It’s not that serious.”
Becoming a laughingstock for later generations wasn’t that easy. One would at least need to be recorded in history. Throughout the ages, how many people made it into the history books?
They didn’t need to think that far ahead now. Doing well in the present was what mattered.
Mu Qing listened, hesitating to speak.
Old Li was still too naive. He hoped the old man wouldn’t be too shocked when he later heard videos featuring them as the main characters.
Zhu Wenzheng noticed his little brother’s odd expression and nudged him with an elbow. “What’s on your mind, Wenqing?”
The little brother pretended to be mature. “I think our father and uncles will all be recorded in history.”
Zhu Wenzheng and Zhu Wenzhong laughed. “If Father and the uncles can, what about your brothers?”
The little brother clenched his fists. “My brothers can too.”
He wouldn’t leave out his War God brother no matter what!
The two brothers were very pleased with this answer. “Thanks for the auspicious words, little brother. When we really make it into the history books, we’ll prepare generous gifts to thank you properly.”
Little brother: ???
Are you two out of your minds?
“Want to be remembered in history books tomorrow? Have future generations burn more incense for Wenqing?”Xu Da couldn’t stand such a scene of coaxing children, immediately patting his chest to declare, “Little Wenqing, unlike your brother, your uncle will treat you to roast goose tomorrow.””
Mu Qing’s eyes lit up, “Thank you, Uncle Xu!”
Truthfully, he wasn’t anxious. Given the current situation, if his brothers kept their word, he would certainly receive generous gifts.
In these times, even wealthy families had little surplus. Roast goose – such delicious food falling from the sky, it would be foolish not to eat it.
While they were whispering among themselves, the light screen’s video continued without delay. After explaining the entire process of Fan Meng’s scheme, it immediately moved on to previously unmentioned details.
[Having covered the Fan Meng case up to this point, the general sequence is clear. Let’s review and analyze why his scheme succeeded.]
[First, Fan Meng chose an excellent time for his plot. Various historical records clearly document this date – the incident occurred on the fourteenth day of the eleventh month in the fifth year of the Later Zhiyuan era, which happened to be the Winter Solstice. The Winter Solstice was a holiday during the Yuan Dynasty. After officials finished their celebrations, they would return home to drink. While they might be sober at other times, on the night of Winter Solstice, all high-ranking officials in the provincial government office were thoroughly drunk.]
[Second, they used “Yellow Wax Pills” to counterfeit imperial decrees. In ancient times when transmitting confidential information, messages would be written on silk and placed inside wax pills. Yellow wax pills containing secret letters were waterproof and small, making them easier to conceal. Wax-sealed letters were common during the Tang and Song dynasties and remained prevalent in the Yuan Dynasty, so provincial officials wouldn’t suspect the wax-sealed secret letters were fake.]
[Third, before entering the city, they first went to the courier station outside the city and seized the official horses there. Don’t underestimate this step – “hijacking the post horses” was arguably the most crucial part of their plan to impersonate imperial envoys.]
[The courier system of the Yuan Dynasty can be considered the most developed in ancient China. It served as “the neural and blood network of the Yuan government,” playing an extremely important role in maintaining imperial rule. Because gold tablets were being abused at the time, the court switched to using courier station vouchers stamped with imperial seals for issuing government orders – these were certificate documents issued to courier station users, called “Puma Imperial Decrees.””]
[With the post horses obtained, they naturally didn’t overlook the identity-certifying imperial documents. The high officials had all returned to their residences for drinking and merriment. During such a major festival, those remaining in the government office wouldn’t be important figures. With official horses and official identification documents, plus Fan Meng’s assistance as the official on duty that day, at least on the night they forged the imperial decree, no one could see through their deception.]
[Finally, the most important reason why Fan Meng succeeded in falsely executing provincial administrators and other Mongol officials. He exploited loopholes in the court system, shrewdly leveraging the powerful deterrent effect that imperial decrees held over provincial officials.This deterrent power was similar to the Han court’s principle of “if the ruler wants a minister to die, the minister has no choice but to die,” but with some differences. The Han people had “if the ruler wants a minister to die, the minister has no choice but to die,” but also “generals in the field may refuse some orders.” However, we must not forget that the Mongol Khanate established by Genghis Khan was a slave state. Even after the Mongol Khanate became the Great Yuan Dynasty, the social structure within Mongol society hadn’t changed much.]
【From the time of the Mongol Khanate, a single imperial edict from the Mongol-Yuan emperor could determine the life or death of provincial officials and vassal administrators. Even if the emperor merely dispatched an Imperial Envoy with an edict declaring, “You are guilty—the Emperor demands your execution,” provincial officials could only bow their necks to the blade, daring no resistance.】
【Why did Tuotuo insist on returning to Dadu despite knowing it meant certain death? Not only was he constrained by the Confucian doctrine that “a subject must die if the ruler demands it,” but more likely, he was submitting to the old slave-system tradition of the steppes, where the master held absolute power over life and death.】
【As a clerk in Henan Province, Fan Meng understood perfectly how imperial decrees could suppress the high officials who lorded over him. After all, whether Mongol or Semu, they all carried a deep-seated, bloodline-instilled fear of the slave-system customs originating from the Mongolian steppes.】
Zhu Wenzhong shuddered involuntarily. “How terrifying! Couldn’t the Mongols learn the principle of ‘a general in the field may disregard sovereign orders’? Why walk knowingly to their deaths? Are they insane?”
Zhu Wenzheng grinned roguishly. “What do you know? This is called ‘utmost loyalty and integrity.'”
Zhu Wenzhong retorted indignantly, “Utmost loyalty, my foot! If Father wanted to kill you without any reason, what would you do?”
“Obviously, I’d run for my life,” Zhu Wenzheng replied without hesitation. “Utmost loyalty is a fine reputation, but such noble things aren’t for me. Staying alive matters more.”
Mu Qing rubbed his face and looked up. Well, this fit his stereotype of them perfectly. “Brother Wenzheng, Father is listening.”
Zhu Wenzheng stiffened, meeting their father’s chilly gaze, and quickly backtracked with flattery. “Wenzhong’s hypothetical is flawed. Our father is so wise, virtuous, and brilliant—he’d never kill anyone unjustly. Right, Father?”
Zhu Yuanzhang’s stern expression nearly cracked. He threw a brush at him, scolding with a laugh, “Silver-tongued rascal! If you corrupt your younger brother, I’ll hold you responsible.”
Zhu Wenzheng immediately covered his little brother’s ears. “No worries, Father. Wenqing didn’t hear a thing.”
The poor younger brother: ???
What? Had they evolved to bald-faced lying already?
Zhu Yuanzhang had no time to bicker with him, refocusing to listen to the heavenly voice continue.
【Fan Meng had no trouble deceiving everyone on the day he stirred up trouble. But after he forged an edict to appoint himself as Henan Grand Marshal and installed a large number of Han officials, it was impossible that no one in Bianliang City noticed something amiss.】
【Or rather, once news spread that Fan Meng had killed the province’s high-ranking officials—including the provincial administrator, Left Chancellor, inspector, and judge—someone in the city would realize something was wrong.】
【Remember, the one in power then was Bayan, the same Bayan who was fanatically anti-Han. Henan Province was his stronghold for building factions and cronies. Would he appoint the Han people he despised most in his own base? Of course not!】
【If, instead, Fan Meng had killed only Han officials and replaced all the original Han staff with Mongols and Semu people, it might have been logically consistent. But the one issuing orders in court was Bayan. No matter how irrational he was, he wouldn’t suddenly purge so many high officials without warning, much less appoint so many Han officials.】
However, right up until Feng Ershe appeared, Fan Meng had never been exposed. Instead, he was allowed to travel in grand style, killing as he went. This clearly shows that not only were the officials in Bianliang City tacitly complicit, but the Han Chinese officials throughout Henan Province were also tacitly complicit.
To better understand why these people acted this way, let’s first discuss the situation in Henan’s officialdom after the establishment of Henan Jiangbei Province.
According to scholarly statistics, during the Yuan Dynasty, Henan Province had a total of fifty Grand Chancellors and Chief Administrators. Among them, thirty-one were Mongols, ten were Semu people, eight were Han Chinese, and only one was a Southern Han. This pattern wasn’t limited to Grand Chancellors and Chief Administrators—it extended to positions such as Left and Right Chancellors, Judges, Vice Administrators, and officials in the Left and Right Bureaus.
Clearly, although Henan Province also implemented the policy of appointing Mongols, Semu people, Han Chinese, and Southern Han, the proportion of Mongol nobles serving here was higher than in other provinces. In Henan’s officialdom, Mongols and Semu people held an absolute advantage.
At the founding of Henan Jiangbei Province, Yuan Emperor Kublai Khan specifically issued an edict stating, “Use the Mongolian language to govern Henan and the Chinese language to govern Fujian.” This was likely because the number of Mongol officials in Henan Province was exceptionally high. With Mongolian as the official language of the provincial government, it’s understandable that high-ranking officials couldn’t comprehend the rebellious poems Fan Meng inscribed on the walls.
During Bayan’s administration, Han Chinese and Southern Han faced unprecedented suppression. Needless to say, he would never allow a Han Chinese to hold the top position in his stronghold.
However, before Fan Meng impersonated an Imperial Envoy, he was merely a low-ranking official. He didn’t consider the broader implications—he only cared about acting with grandeur, venting his anger, and humiliating the Mongols. After proclaiming himself Grand Marshal, he appointed the retired inspector Duan Fu as Left Chancellor of Henan Province and, within a few days, promoted him to Chief Administrator.
Fan Meng’s sudden rise to power, wielding the Tiger Tally to command troops, was already shocking. But appointing a retired inspector as Chief Administrator of Henan Province was even more explosive in Bayan’s political climate. Anyone with common sense would have recognized this as highly abnormal.
It’s worth noting that Han Chinese serving as Chief Administrators of Henan Province during the Yuan Dynasty were extremely rare. How rare? In the first year of the Zhida era, He Wei, the son of He Boxiang, was appointed Chief Administrator of Henan Province for his contributions in supporting Haishan and his brothers. Once this appointment was confirmed, Confucian scholars and literati celebrated with drums and gongs, and some even composed poems to commemorate the event. In these poems, He Wei was compared to Lai Zhu, a virtuous minister of King Tang of Shang, who was “greeted by crowds lining the roads.” The verses described glaciers melting, spring arriving in Liang and Chu, and sweet rain nourishing the central plains—exaggerating the praise to the fullest.
Henan Province was a unique entity in the Yuan Dynasty, a topic we’ll elaborate on shortly. In any case, Henan had not one but two Chief Administrators.
Since the Southern Song and Jin Dynasty were divided by the Huai River–Dashanguan line, the Henan region was split between the two states. Later, Mongol cavalry swept south, and after over a century of war and devastation, the population of Henan Jiangbei sharply declined, with vast tracts of fertile land turning into wastelands.
During the Mongol-Yuan period, the court implemented large-scale military farming in Henan Province. Both the area under cultivation and the number of households involved made Henan the leader among all provinces in terms of scale. Moreover, the province heavily utilized “garrison troops for farming and storage,” with military farming accounting for a significant proportion. For this reason, the court specifically designated one Chief Administrator to bear the Tiger Tally and oversee farming affairs.
【When two provincial administrators served simultaneously, the “chief” administrator was the one in charge of government affairs.】
【Although Administrator He only oversaw military farmland affairs in Henan Province, this did not prevent scholars and Confucian literati across the land from feeling he had brought honor to the Han people, believing the Han were now embarking on a broad path toward liberation from Mongol oppression.】
【Under the circumstances of that era, it was already rare for Han people to hold legitimate official positions in the Henan Provincial office. With so many Han officials in the Dadu court scrambling and scheming to climb the ranks, how could a retired old man possibly become the actual chief administrator?】
【Yet, from start to finish, this matter defied conventional logic.】
【In this case, every official Fan Meng killed was without exception either Mongol or Semu. Even Han people who crossed him were only imprisoned rather than executed, clearly indicating where his resentment lay. This further demonstrates that the incident was indeed an extreme act of desperation—a reckless retaliation against superiors after enduring unbearable oppression.】
【Historical records state: “Fan Meng and his cohorts forged memorials of the Central Secretariat and counterfeited provincial documents, issuing them to prefectures, which then transmitted them to counties.” At that time, “wealthy gentry and cunning minor clerks were all appointed as false officials,” and “all officials bowed in obedience.”】
【In the fifth year of the Zhiyuan era, the empire was not yet in chaos. The imperial military remained formidable, and Henan Province was regarded as the “Gateway to the Capital.” The court would never relax its control there. Fan Meng and his allies knew their actions were highly risky and that any success would be short-lived, yet they proceeded regardless.】
【While Fan Meng’s desperate actions could be seen as a final, hopeless struggle, the fact that Henan Provincial officials showed such deference to “Brother Fan” was inextricably linked to Bayan—the powerful minister who ruthlessly oppressed the Han people.】
【Our previous video detailed the irrational measures Bayan took to marginalize Han officials, so we won’t reiterate them here. Instead, we focus on the consequences of his anti-Han policies.】
【Bayan was a powerful minister who rose through military achievements. After repeatedly distinguishing himself in campaigns with Emperor Wuzong Haishan across the northern deserts, he was promoted to roles such as Administrator of the Department of State Affairs and later assigned as Administrator of Henan Province. Henan was his power base where he had gained fame, and after returning to Dadu, he inevitably installed trusted allies to control the province.】
【As subordinates emulate their superiors, Bayan’s dominance in the court and his relentless suppression of Han and Southerners meant his henchmen in Henan would spare no effort in enforcing his exclusionary policies. The Han clerks and officials facing systemic marginalization and abuse were not limited to Fan Meng—they represented the entire Han populace.】
【Had Bayan merely made it harder for Han people to enter officialdom, it might have been tolerable. The Chinese have inherited a legacy of resilience—no matter how harsh the requirements, there would always be those who could meet them. With so much talent in the Central Plains, as long as there was a path, however narrow, they would find a way to squeeze through.】
【But Bayan went beyond raising barriers: he abolished the imperial examination system—the lone bridge for Han and Southerners to enter official service.】
“Han scholars exhaust their lives studying classics, aspiring to cultivate virtue, regulate families, govern the state, and bring peace to the world. They study relentlessly, even by catching fireflies, reading by snow-reflected light, or chiseling holes in walls to borrow illumination. Yet the path to officialdom is blocked by high-ranking court officials, allowing barely literate Mongols and Semu people to trample over them. How can this be endured?”
“If this can be endured, what cannot? This has truly crossed their bottom line.”
During the days when Fan Meng stirred up trouble, he killed Mongols and Semu people wherever he went, whether in provincial offices or local county government offices. His accomplices and the many “wrongfully coerced” individuals who turned a blind eye were all lower to middle-class Han clerks and civilians in Henan Province.
Brother Fan was a typical opportunist. Having endured twenty years of hardship as a minor clerk, once he gained power, he vigorously promoted petty officials who had suffered like he once did. Meanwhile, Han officials who had originally enjoyed promising careers faced misfortune—either assigned to arduous, low-paying positions to experience the hardships he had endured or directly tied up and thrown into prison.
In official historical records, the Fan Meng case is labeled as a rebellion, and personally, I find this assessment quite accurate. The collapse of a dynasty is never due to a single factor. This incident vividly reflects the severity of ethnic oppression and conflict during the Yuan Dynasty, as well as the resistance of lower to middle-class Han officials against Bayan’s anti-Han policies.
Bayan’s anti-Han policies were utterly ruthless. At the time, a scholar expressed in a poem: “The scholar’s heart is filled with bitter sorrow; what use is studying till hair turns white? Though their minds hold grand strategies for the state, how can they present them to a wise ruler?”
Countless scholars endured immense hardship, hoping to “master both literary and martial arts to serve the imperial house.” Since they could not find the “wise ruler” they sought in the court, they would seek another “wise ruler” who could allow them to realize their ambitions.
“With sacrifice comes lofty aspirations, daring to bid the sun and moon bring a new day.” Even if failure was inevitable, it did not matter. They were not like a mantis trying to stop a chariot; they were fighting against an unjust world!
Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang felt stirred and slammed the table in admiration. “‘Daring to bid the sun and moon bring a new day’—what a magnificent line!No wonder Liu Futong was so fond of the character “bright”, using it for both the Little Prince Ming and the Great Ming Dynasty.
The sun and moon together form “bright.””If he could become emperor, he would use ‘Ming’ too.”
“With sacrifice comes lofty aspirations, daring to bid the sun and moon bring a new day”—these words were truly exceptional, worthy of a celestial being.
Mu Qing straightened his posture with restrained pride, daring only to feel a secret sense of pride in his heart.
Of course, just look at who wrote that poem—it’s naturally superb beyond compare.