Xu Da initially felt Fan Meng didn’t deserve such an imposing title as “Grave Digger of the Great Yuan.” However, after learning about Henan Province’s significance and the case’s subsequent developments, he staunchly defended Brother Fan’s qualification for this honor.
Their audacious rebellion was possible because uprisings were erupting everywhere across the land. The court, overwhelmed and targeting the most prominent threats, had no capacity to monitor their minor operations.
Had this occurred a decade earlier when Henan Province maintained substantial troops and the court’s elite forces remained intact, their fledgling Red Turban Army would have been annihilated within three days at most.
“Brother Fan is mighty! Brother Fan is formidable! Brother Fan digs graves for the Mongols!”
Xu Da’s starry-eyed muttering eventually provoked Hua Yun and Geng Zaicheng to jointly silence him, leaving him whimpering and unable to utter another word.
With Old Xu’s noise eliminated, the group resumed watching the video.
[After Fan Meng and Gao Nalin wiped out an entire generation of officials in Henan Jiangbei Province, the bureaucratic system here was later rebuilt. However, as we all know the state of the Yuan Dynasty when Guo Ge assumed power – the Great Yuan was already riddled with weaknesses. Suppressing widespread rebellions left no capacity to restore Henan’s complete administrative system, despite intentions.]
[The peasant uprisings in the late Yuan Dynasty didn’t begin with Han Shantong and Liu Futong. While they ignited the largest-scale peasant rebellion, numerous uprisings predated them. Chronologically, figures like Peng Yingyu and Chen Youliang rebelled earlier.]
[During the eight years from Guo Ge’s accession to his personal rule, anti-Yuan rebellions erupted consecutively: the Yao people in Guangxi, the Tufan uprising, the Shandong people’s revolt, Zhu Guangqing’s rebellion in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and the Banghu uprising in Zhoukou, Henan. The recorded uprisings undoubtedly represented substantial movements at the time, spreading across the nation – even Mongols on the Mongol Steppe rebelled.]
[In essence, the newly established administrative system in Henan Jiangbei Province remained fragile as paper, utterly incapable of handling rebellion-scale events.]
[Thus, the causal chain establishing Henan Province as the primary target for the Red Turban Army in the late Yuan was sown over a decade earlier.]
Tang He shifted positions, propping his chin with one hand as he remarked gravely, “I still believe Yesun Temur’s ‘contribution’ was greater.”
While Fan Meng eliminated a generation of officials, he barely affected the military garrison in Henan Province. As long as troops remained, the court could still manage the province.
The current flourishing of rebel forces largely owed to Yesun Temur’s complete exhaustion of the court’s elite reserves in the Battle of Shahe.
The 300,000 troops Tuotuo prepared for Yesun Temur represented the court’s trump card army. Barring unforeseen circumstances, his “decisive battle” strategy should have succeeded easily – unfortunately, he encountered Yesun Temur, the ultimate liability.
While the court failed to achieve “decisive victory,” the rebel side nearly accomplished this objective.
Later, when Tuotuo assembled what was claimed to be a million-strong army to suppress rebellions during the Battle of Gaoyou, their calculations showed Tuotuo commanded at most 400,000 troops. After Yesun Temur’s wasteful depletion, the court simply couldn’t field a million soldiers.
The 400,000 troops in the Battle of Gaoyou couldn’t compare to Yesun Temur’s 300,000 elite forces. Yesun Temur’s army consisted of the imperial court’s direct elite forces, while Tuotuo’s 400,000 troops were mostly private soldiers of Mongol nobles, local militias, and troops from surrounding vassal states.
With the imperial court losing its trump card and revealing weakness, while still needing to suppress rebel forces, local powers naturally began building their military strength.
This was all thanks to Yesun Temur’s achievements.
Xu Da grinned slyly, “What’s the big deal? They’re all just grave diggers of the Great Yuan anyway.”
Grave digging isn’t a one-person job – many hands make light work. Only with everyone pitching in can the grave be dug quickly.
[Let’s set aside the events of the 11th year of Zhengzheng for now. We’ll dedicate a separate episode to the late Yuan peasant uprising later. Pulling the timeline back, let’s continue with the imperial court’s subsequent handling of the Fan Meng case.]
[Fan Meng caused such major trouble in Henan Province that it drove Bayan to lose his rationality and attack everyone indiscriminately. This forced the Dadu court, from the emperor to all officials, to unite and suppress him, determined not to let him continue holding power.]
[The Great Yuan was already in peril. If he continued causing trouble like this, the country would soon face destruction.]
[Thus, three months later, the emperor joined forces with Tuotuo and others to launch a coup, ending Bayan’s era of control. Bayan was expelled from Dadu, with his first destination being Henan Jiangbei Province as Left Chancellor. Not long after, he died on the way to exile in Nangen Prefecture, and Guo Ge began his personal rule from then on.]
[Viewers who saw our last episode know that our Guo Ge had extremely high ambitions when he first took personal control. He wanted to be a diligent and governing good emperor, genuinely believing himself to be the chosen one who could save the Great Yuan from the mire.]
[With Bayan, the biggest obstacle on his path to diligent governance, already kicked out of Dadu, wrapping up the Fan Meng case provided the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his capabilities to the world.]
[On March 18th of the 6th year of Later Zhiyuan, Guo Ge issued two edicts consecutively. One was “Edict to relocate Bayan to Yangchun County of Nangen Prefecture for settlement,” and the other was for Henan Jiangbei Province to “except for the primary offenders, pardon the rest” and “only punish the ringleaders, do not prosecute those coerced.”]
[The first edict needs no explanation – it was simply exiling Bayan. The important one was the second edict.]
[The “primary offender” and “ringleader” in the Fan Meng case was Fan Meng. Fan Meng and his accomplice Huo Bashi and others had all been killed before the court sent people over. The emperor’s edict stated that only the “primary offenders” would be held responsible, and others would not be prosecuted whenever possible. In short, it was meant to demonstrate his magnanimous imperial grace toward the people of Henan.]
[He was a strict and impartial emperor who never tolerated wrongdoing, even from powerful ministers like Bayan. He knew when to be severe and when to be merciful – surely this would move the people of Henan to tears.]
[Historical records state that after the special pardon was issued, “the people of Henan cheered and danced, peacefully settled down, and finally received the gift of rebirth.” Just reading this record, the reaction of Henan’s people showed great respect for Guo Ge, almost treating him as their reborn parent.]
“But there’s one point everyone shouldn’t forget: Bayan’s exile happened in March of the second year, while Fan Meng’s rebellion occurred on the winter solstice of the previous year. During those intervening months, the officials of Henan Province had already been largely executed by Gao Nalin. So when the emperor issued an edict at this point saying ‘only the chief offenders will be punished, others will be pardoned’ and ‘only the ringleaders will be held accountable, coerced followers won’t be prosecuted’—wasn’t this purely playing with people?”
“Those implicated officials had already formed queues to report to the King of Hell. Now the court issues an imperial decree saying they won’t be held responsible? Really, could you, Guo Ge, negotiate with the King of Hell to bring all those dead officials back to life?”
“So when the emperor speaks, just listen casually without taking it seriously. Play along with his performance—being too earnest brings no benefits.”
Zhu Yuanzhang scoffed disdainfully, “Who knows who compiled their history books? Never mind other things, the reactions of Henan’s common people recorded there must be complete fabrications meant to deceive the emperor.”
When he was an ordinary commoner, knowing the name of the local landlord in his village was already quite something—what did it matter to him whether the officials above lived or died?
Would officials escaping punishment put food in his belly?
These historians really write all kinds of nonsense, only capable of fooling that dimwitted emperor in Dadu. See, even later immortals who didn’t witness events firsthand can tell what’s written there is false.
The history books of previous dynasties are compiled by scholars of later dynasties. Since it was Liu Futong’s Great Ming that destroyed the Yuan Dynasty, this means the “History of Yuan” was compiled by Ming Dynasty officials.
Tsk tsk, Old Liu, you’re not doing well enough!
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed mockingly at the absent Liu Futong without restraint, while others joined in with their own criticisms.
Aren’t historians supposed to record truthfully? Why are they writing lies to deceive people?
Mu Qing listened, hesitating to speak yet wanting to speak, wondering how these people would react when they realized they were actually criticizing themselves.
“The official circles of Henan Province were thoroughly plowed through by Fan Meng and Gao Nalin’s two rakes. After Bayan’s exile, Guo Ge appointed Duoerzhi, a descendant of Muqali, as Left Chancellor of Henan Province. Duoerzhi was ‘magnanimous and measured,’ making him particularly suitable for this comforting and soothing aftermath work.”
“By now, the Fan Meng case that shocked the court has finally concluded.”
“However! Things are far from over!”
“Not over yet?” Zhu Wenzheng frowned. “Fan Meng and his accomplices are all dead, Henan’s officials are almost completely wiped out, and the court has sent a good-tempered high official to appease.” What could possibly happen next?”
Li Shanchang smiled and pinpointed the issue sharply: “Factional struggles within the court.”
After the emperor began ruling personally, he heavily relied on Tuotuo. But judging by Tuotuo’s eventual fate, this ruler-minister relationship wasn’t as harmonious as it appeared on surface.
Just as Old Li finished speaking, the following scenes on the light screen confirmed his assessment.
“Historical records state: After Yuan Tong period, chief ministers engaged in mutual attacks became commonplace. Even someone as virtuous as Tuotuo couldn’t avoid acting on personal preferences and settling old scores.”
“Let me interject here: The Yuan Dynasty was a unified empire established by Mongols. They internally had the ‘Kurultai’ nobility assembly for selecting khans and adhered to the ‘Youngest Son Keeps the Hearth’ system, where the youngest son inherits parental property. However, the traditional Han Chinese practice is the primogeniture inheritance system.”
【The clash between two entirely different political traditions led to intense succession struggles throughout the Yuan Dynasty. Heirs to the throne had their respective followers, and court officials along with Mongol nobles inevitably became involved in the power contests, resulting in exceptionally cruel and bloody factional conflicts within the Yuan court.】
【A dedicated video will later explore the imperial succession within the Yuan Dynasty. For now, let us focus on Guo Ge and Tuotuo.】
【As mentioned earlier, Tuotuo was a virtuous minister, but he also had his flaws—he frequently engaged in factionalism and purged dissidents.】
【It was also previously noted that Guo Ge aspired to be an emperor who could turn the tide, but do not assume this meant he was a righteous man. On the contrary, Guo Ge was highly pragmatic; the moment he found his key ministers useless or too powerful to pose a threat, he would swiftly eliminate them.】
【Consider this passage: Since the beginning of the Zheng era, all powerful officials who were notorious for their arrogance and influence died by his hand. Over five hundred high-ranking officials of the first grade were executed, all disposed of in an instant, without a hint of remorse. How could someone so decisive be considered indecisive? Yet, why did he ultimately lose the empire? The answer lies in his sinister nature.】
【During Guo Ge’s reign, he executed over five hundred officials of the first grade alone. Even when things went awry later, he showed no regret, instead shifting blame onto others.】
【“The faults lie with others—what does it have to do with me? I am merely a diligent emperor striving for good governance.”】
【It must be said, this mindset is quite remarkable.】
Hua Yun cursed angrily, “That dog emperor! Sooner or later, we’ll march into Dadu and chop off his head.”
Xu Da clenched his fists, “Let’s go together.”
Hua Yun nodded firmly, “Agreed!”
In just a few words, the two had vowed to storm Dadu and behead the dog emperor.
The others: …
Well, it’s just a thought—let them be.
【As mentioned earlier, the Fan Meng case concluded with a special pardon issued by the emperor. However, in the fourth year of Zheng, five years after the incident, the case was revisited and brought back into the spotlight of court officials.】
【The fourth year of Zheng holds particular significance. Viewers of the previous video might recall this year—it was when Tuotuo resigned due to illness to recuperate at home, and the chief minister in the court was replaced.】
【At this time, someone in the court sought to reinvestigate the Fan Meng case. Historical records only mention that a “chief minister” wanted to reopen the case and exterminate the families of all those involved, without specifying which minister. However, by cross-referencing various historical sources, we can identify the mastermind behind this move.】
【After the incident, because Fan Meng had appointed Duan Fu as Left Chancellor and Pingzhang of Henan Province, Bayan seized the opportunity to make a big issue out of it, attempting to dismiss all Han Chinese inspectors in the court. At the time, Tuotuo held the position of Censor-in-Chief. Bayan was his uncle, so Tuotuo could not openly oppose his own relative. Instead, he approached the emperor to suppress Bayan’s radical proposal.】
【Because of this, Bayan severely reprimanded Tuotuo, accusing him of favoring Han Chinese over his own Mongol heritage and bringing shame to their ancestors.】
Here we can confirm that Tuotuo did not want to escalate the situation. He only sought to suppress the matter quickly to prevent more severe consequences. This means the minister who wanted to reopen the Fan Meng case must have been his successor after he resigned from office.
When the “chief minister” in the court proposed reinvestigating the Fan Meng case, the then Minister of Justice Gai Miao firmly opposed it. The matter was temporarily suppressed, but Gai Miao was soon transferred to Shandong as an inspector, likely because he had offended the ruling minister due to his earlier stance.
Sharing a similar fate was another Minister of Justice, Song Wenzan. After Song assumed the position, the court once again proposed retrying the Fan Meng case. Records of the court meeting state, “Over 300 people were implicated, with punishments ranging from execution to exile.” This time, the scope of punishment was already defined, but Song Wenzan also firmly opposed revisiting the old case, and the matter was once again dropped. Not long after, Song Wenzan was also transferred out of the capital.
Apart from the two Ministers of Justice, Duoerzhi also disagreed with reopening the case. Henan Province was already in chaos; further executions would only lead to an explosion of unrest.
The emperor initially sent Duoerzhi to Henan to clean up the mess precisely because he valued his mild temperament and non-confrontational approach. Duoerzhi did not disappoint him. Upon arriving in Henan, he carefully reviewed the cases, seeking to deliver justice for the wrongfully accused and striving to minimize executions wherever possible.
However, as mentioned earlier, the first official sent to handle the situation in Henan was Gao Nalin. Gao Nalin’s approach was to execute every Han person even remotely involved. He later secretly undermined Duoerzhi, who sought to conduct thorough investigations, accusing him of being a Mongol who sided with the Han people, just like Tuotuo, and bringing shame to their ancestors.
Although the name Gao Nalin sounds Han, he was actually a Tangut and a close confidant of Bayan, harboring deep hatred for Han officials. From this perspective, he seems very much like the “chief minister” who wanted to reopen the case.
However, Gao Nalin was not in Dadu at the time but was serving as an official elsewhere, which disqualifies him.
Geng Zaicheng gritted his teeth and said, “Those who are not of our kind must have different intentions.”
Xu Da, however, did not share this view. “That Mongol named Duoerzhi is quite commendable. Judging people should not be based solely on their origins; one must interact with them to know their character.”
But that Tangut named Gao Nalin was indeed not a good person. Pah.
All the spectators in the hall: Pah!
Now let’s examine the individuals who served as chancellor after Bayan’s downfall. First were Mazhatai and his son Tuotuo. Tuotuo was quite a figure: he was dissatisfied when his uncle served as chancellor, so he collaborated with the emperor to remove him. When his father became chancellor, he was still dissatisfied and eventually ousted his father to take the position himself.
After Tuotuo resigned, Alutu, Bie Erqie Buhua, and Duoerzhi successively held power until Tuotuo resumed the chancellorship in the intercalary seventh month of the ninth year of the Zheng era. The intervening five years and two months are widely regarded in mainstream historical records as the period when Yuan Dynasty rule began to collapse entirely.
The revival of the Fan Meng case happened at the critical juncture between Tuotuo’s resignation and the successive administrations of his three successors.
In May of the fourth year of the Zheng era, Tuotuo resigned from his position as Right Chancellor of the Central Secretariat and returned home to recuperate from illness. His successor, Alutu, was personally selected by Tuotuo. Historical records depict Alutu as an honest, simple-minded, yet pedantic Mongol noble. He was removed from his post just days after assuming office through a scheme, making him an obvious exclusion without further consideration.
The mastermind behind Alutu’s appointment was Bie Erqie Buhua. After Tuotuo’s resignation in the fourth year of Zheng, Bie Erqie Buhua was appointed Left Chancellor of the Central Secretariat. He and Right Chancellor Alutu “accompanied the emperor on his travels, often sharing the same carriage,” leading the court and public to rejoice at the “harmony between the two chancellors.” However, this was merely an illusion.
The exact grudge between Bie Erqie Buhua and Tuotuo remains unclear, but after Tuotuo’s resignation, Bie Erqie Buhua repeatedly attempted to persuade Alutu to eliminate Tuotuo. Alutu, an honest official promoted by Tuotuo, neither wished nor dared to collude with Bie Erqie Buhua.
Though repeatedly rebuffed by Alutu, Bie Erqie Buhua continued to slander Tuotuo in front of Guo Ge. With many others willing to cooperate where Alutu refused, and given Tuotuo’s mediocre reputation, Bie Erqie Buhua had no trouble finding allies to undermine Tuotuo.
The saying “Though absent from court, his legend persists everywhere” perfectly describes Tuotuo’s situation.
Despite resigning and traveling far to Gansu to recuperate, Tuotuo never truly distanced himself from court intrigues. Fortunately, his relationship with Hama was then in a honeymoon phase. Whenever Bie Erqie Buhua spoke ill of Tuotuo to Guo Ge, Hama would step forward to defend him, preserving Tuotuo’s image in the emperor’s eyes.
Thus, it became clear who sought to reopen old cases.
Bie Erqie Buhua had both motive and opportunity—he was undoubtedly the culprit.
His motive for reviving the Fan Meng case was solely to suppress Tuotuo. Although court officials opposed the revival, preventing its actual reopening, the court was severely weakened by the turmoil.
Here, we must mention Su Tianjue, a Han Chinese high official of the late Yuan court who advanced through both family inheritance and the imperial examination system—a rare and virtuous official.
Su Tianjue firmly opposed extensively reinvestigating the Fan Meng case for three reasons: First, it was his duty. Appointed by the court to serve in the capital region, he was tasked with inquiring into public grievances and rectifying injustices, which included those “wrongfully coerced” in the Fan Meng case. Second, the emperor had previously declared the matter closed, and as the sovereign’s word was bond, reopening it would be a breach of faith. Third, the emperor had recently pardoned the “unapprehended, wrongfully implicated followers” of rebels like Bang Hu, Zhu Guangqing, and Han Fashi. If those coerced in Li Tan’s rebellion and Bang Hu’s revolt were not pursued, why should pardoned individuals from the Fan Meng case be retried? Reopening the Fan Meng case would unsettle those recently pardoned.
Suppressing rebellions was arduous for the court. After finally achieving brief stability, who would quell renewed popular uprisings?
Even if the court could deploy troops, where would the funds and supplies come from? The treasury was depleted, and the people were starving—how could resources for suppressing rebels be raised?
As a high court official, Su Tianjue understood the consequences of mobilizing Mongol armies: often, few rebels were killed, while cautious, ordinary citizens were plundered.
“For the common people, being plundered by government troops leads to an even worse fate. Since death is inevitable either way, why wouldn’t they join the rebel army? The court is practically forcing them to rebel!”
“In short, Su Tianjue firmly maintained that past matters should remain in the past, and that reopening old cases would only harm the court without bringing any benefit. He advised the emperor against stirring up unnecessary trouble.”
“Then, just like the two previous Ministers of Justice – no, actually his fate was worse than theirs. The previous two were merely assigned to provincial posts, while he ‘offended the current chancellor and was ultimately dismissed for incompetence’ – directly removed from office and sent back to his hometown.”
“The Fan Meng case ultimately wasn’t reopened, but during this process, all who held opposing views suffered reassignment or suppression. That Su Tianjue – such a rare, accomplished official with outstanding political achievements – was actually dismissed under the pretext of ‘incompetence’ shows just how intense the factional struggles were at that time.”
Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his chin. “Su Tianjue – I remember him. He previously led troops that chased Xu Shouhui all over the place. He was quite capable.”
Zhu Wenzheng looked up. “Father, what happened then?”
Old Zhu shrugged. “Then he worked himself to death from overexertion. It happened just a couple of years ago, back when you three brothers were still refugees.”
Li Shanchang sighed, “If Su Tianjue were still alive, Xu Shouhui and the others might not have been able to hold out until now.”
What a pity that such a good official existed in this chaotic era—he would have been perfect for peaceful times.
With factionalism so severe in the court, capable people couldn’t gain important positions, while those skilled in currying favor climbed higher. No wonder the dynasty was doomed.
[Fan Meng wasn’t the first Han clerk to rebel under oppression, nor would he be the last. Ten years later, a minor official skilled in writing, born into a fishing family in Mianyang, would join the rebellion—a true schemer destined to stir up storms.]
[That’s all for Brother Fan’s story. I’m your beloved up host Qingqing Mosang. See you in the next episode, dear audience.]
As the closing remarks ended, cheerful music faded in, and the light screen gradually dimmed before vanishing completely along with the sound.
It came and went without a trace, just like last time.
Having learned from their previous experience, the audience didn’t panic or scramble in confusion. Instead, they calmly gathered to discuss.
Hua Yun scratched his head, “A minor official from a Mianyang fishing family? Who could that be?”
The southern regions were crisscrossed with lakes, and many people came from fishing backgrounds. It was like predicting a rebellion by starving peasants here—half the military camp would respond if you shouted about it.
These immortals really were frustrating, never giving clear explanations. How were they supposed to guess?
Zhu Yuanzhang tapped his forehead uncertainly, “Earlier this year, Xu Shouhui sent his general Ni Wenjun to capture Mianyang. A fellow named Chen Jiusi brought his followers to join Ni Wenjun—that guy happens to be a local from a Mianyang fishing family.”
Li Shanchang had also heard of this man, “This Chen Jiusi knows how to read the tides. He started as just a clerk under Ni Wenjun, but somehow won Xu Shouhui’s favor. Now he’s thriving there.”
Old Zhu’s face was full of displeasure, “A schemer destined to stir up storms?”
Chen Jiusi was a fishing boy from Mianyang, while he Zhu Chongba was a cowherd from Haozhou. Why didn’t they talk about him?