Siu chiu hwei continued his triumphs, and to attach men to his fortunes more surely, he let them pillage all cities which he captured. He took Han yang, and Wu chang in Hu kuang, as well as [[398]]Kiu kiang in the north of Kiang si. He defeated Fan chi king and mastered Hang chau, which the Sung dynasty had once made its capital, but the Mongol general, Tong pu siao, crossed the Yang tse, and laying siege to Hang chau, regained it after desperate carnage. Yessen Timur, who had been sent to put down rebellion in Honan, defeated by Li fu tong, retired to Kai fong fu, and thus left the field to the rebels. This incompetent general was reprimanded and soon after the increase of the uprising caused the Emperor to replace him by his brother Toktagha. Toktagha, leading Honan forces, defeated the insurgents near Pe sui chiu, but Sing ki, who commanded all Imperial troops in Yang tse regions, was defeated and lost his life in a battle against a new rebel army.
Fang kwe chin, the pirate chieftain, was very active. He continued to capture ships sailing northward, and thus deprived Ta tu of supplies from South China, and also of tribute. Besides this, he killed most perfidiously Tai Buga, a general. Hence the government, greatly anxious to win the bold, active pirate, charged Tie li Timur to confer with him. The pirate gave assurance that he would submit and disband his forces if he, with his brothers, two in number, were made mandarins of the fifth class. Tie li Timur, delighted at this offer, gave the three brothers Hiu chin, Kuang te, and Siu chiu in the Che kiang province. The pirate, however, for reasons which he alone knew, refused the places when the time came to take them, raised sail, and disappeared with his ship and his cutthroats.
In 1354, Chang se ching, a new rebel, appeared in Kiang nan and though his troops were all levies he routed Tachi Timur, who had been sent out to crush him. At this juncture, the first minister, Toktagha, fell on Chang se ching, beat him thoroughly, and retook the cities which he had captured. But while Toktagha was retrieving the losses of his sovereign, his own colleague at the capital was working his ruin. Hama and Sue sue, two brothers, notorious for dissolute conduct, had become mighty in the Emperor’s councils. They were Kankali Turks, adventurers in the worst sense, hardened profligates, and thoroughly perfidious. When he had reached power Toktagha gave Hama occupation, and then appointed him minister. Very soon this new minister made himself independent of Toktagha and rose every day to greater influence. In due time he found support in Ki, the Empress, a Corean princess [[399]]by origin. She was Togan Timur’s favorite wife, and mother of the heir apparent. Hama applied himself quickly also to serving the worst inclinations of his sovereign, and peopled the palace with his creatures, youthful debauchees given to every disorder, and Tibetan Lamas, who practised all sorts of magic, and held immensely grotesque superstitions. At this man’s instigation the censors of the Empire accused Toktagha of taking for his own use, or giving to his favorites, funds intended for war and public service. Toktagha, the victor, so greatly needed at this crisis, was stripped of his dignities and ordered to Hoai nan into exile, and before going was forced to yield his command to the generals Yué yué and Yué Kutchar.
Meanwhile Siu chiu hwei, who called himself Emperor, was master of Wu chang, the chief city of the great Hu kwang province. Wishing also to capture Mien yang, he charged with this service Ni wen tsiun, one of his best leaders. The prince of Wei chun, who commanded that region, sent his son, Poan nu, to oppose that rebel chieftain, but Poan nu’s barks being weighty were stranded in the Han chuen shallows, where the rebels burned the flotilla with fire bearing arrows. Poan nu perished with a number of his warriors—and Mien yang was lost to the Mongols.
The year following (1356), Ni wen tsiun took Siang yang and conquered the region of Tchong ling, after he had beaten Tur chi pan, a Mongol general.
Because of great distance these reverses in the South roused at first slight attention in Ta tu, or any other place, but when Honan rebels raided regions north of the Hoang Ho there was lively dread at the capital. Troops were sent to Honan, Shen si and Shan tung at the earliest. Liau fu tong, chief of Honan red caps, thought that he was increasing his partisans by proclaiming Han lin ulh, son of Han chan tong, the first pretender, as the legal Sung Emperor. This prince took the designation Ming wang, and established his court at Po chiu in Honan.
The Mongol court, fearing lest the name Sung, so dear to the Chinese, might rouse them, hurried off an army under Taché Bahadur, against the pretender. This general met Liau fu tong and was defeated. Liu hala Buga, who had been sent with a second corps to support the defeated man, attacked the rebel leader and vanquished him. He received chief command now because of [[400]]his victory, and marching directly toward Po chiu, he overtook and again defeated Liau fu tong, who fled for relief toward Ngan fong and took his Emperor with him.
After Toktagha’s disgrace Hama was created first minister and Sue sue, his brother, chief censor of the Empire. All power now was in those two brothers. Since Hama had nothing to fear, as he thought, save the return of Toktagha, he had the late minister killed at the place of his banishment. But noting soon that the Empire was decaying very swiftly, and the sovereign was depraved beyond repentance, a result to which Hama himself had contributed immensely, he thought of means to cure the evils around him, and decided to raise to the throne the heir apparent, a person of some wit and a self seeker. This design was discovered and Hama was sentenced to exile and in 1356 his enemies had him strangled.
In 1355 appeared the man destined to destroy Mongol rule in China and found the Ming dynasty.—Chu yuan chang, a Buddhist, and also a priest who cast off his habit in Kiang nan to become a simple warrior under Ko tse ling, a rebel chieftain. This Chu was not slow in creating a party. Continual success, with moderation, brought him many supporters, and his renown increased daily. Advancing to the river Yang tse he was met by the people in Tai ping as their saviour. After he had captured Nan king, Yang chiu and Chin kiang he laid siege to Chang chiu near the mouth of the river. This city was held by the troops of Chang se ching, who himself was not present. This rebel leader, though defeated by Toktagha, had recovered through Mongol remissness, and made himself master of many cities. Chang se ching sent his brother Chang se te to succor Chang chiu, but this brother was defeated and captured.
Chang se ching wrote now to the future Emperor of China and entreated him to cease his siege labor and liberate Chang se te, promising in return to become his vassal and pay a large yearly tribute in grain, gold and silver. Chu, convinced of Chang se ching’s thorough perfidy, held firmly to his prisoner and captured the city.