EXPULSION OF THE MONGOLS FROM CHINA
The late Emperor was childless. His widow, Bulagan, who toward the end
of her husband’s reign had great influence, wished to put on the throne
Ananda, a son of Mangkala and grandson of Kubilai. He was living at
that time in Tangut as its viceroy. Tangut in those days included Shen
si, with Tibet and Su chuan also in some part. While Timur lay on his
death-bed Bulagan warned Ananda in secret to hasten to the capital. She
wished to keep the throne from Khaishan and Ayurbali Batra, the two
sons of Chingkin’s son Tarmabala; she had had the mother of these two
princes sent to Corea as an exile. Khaishan was on the northwestern
border at that time, commanding an army of observation, and had won
high repute through discretion and bravery in the struggle with Kaidu.
Batra was with his mother in exile.
Bulagan, now the regent, was sustained in supporting Ananda by Agutai,
the first minister, and by others. She disposed troops along the roads
of Mongolia to hinder Khaishan in reaching Ta tu. There was, however, a
party which favored the sons of Tarmabala. Karakhass, who was chief of
this party, sent secretly to hurry Khaishan on his journey and
mentioned the route by which he should travel to avoid meeting enemies.
He urged Batra also to be in Ta tu, and Batra did not fail to come
promptly with his mother. Meanwhile Ananda’s adherents had settled the
day on which to install him.
Khaishan’s party saw that there was no time for loitering. They could
not wait for their candidate; he was too far from the capital. So
Prince Tulu brought in a large army corps which he was commanding, and
acted. Melik Timur, a son of Arik Buga, was one of Ananda’s chief
partisans. He had served in the army of Chabar, had revolted, and then
fled to China; this Melik Timur was put in chains, conveyed to Shang
tu, and immured there securely. Agutai and other partisans of Ananda
were arrested and condemned to die for endeavoring to dispose of the
throne arbitrarily, but the execution was deferred till Khaishan’s
arrival. Bulagan and Ananda were guarded in the palace. The princes of
the blood asked Batra to proclaim himself Emperor, but he refused,
saying that the throne belonged to his elder brother. Batra now sent
the seal of the Empire to that brother, and took the title of regent
till Khaishan’s arrival, holding down meanwhile the partisans of the
Empress.
Khaishan hurried to Kara Kurum, where he took counsel with princes and
generals. The army, in which he was a great favorite, desired to
proclaim him in the homeland. Khaishan refused and started for Shang tu
with a picked force thirty thousand in number. He sent a message to his
mother and brother inviting them to assist at his installation. Batra
set out at once for Shang tu, where Khaishan was saluted as sovereign
by the princes and generals assembled in a Kurultai. He took the name
Kuluk Khan, raised his mother to be Empress and gave his dead father
the title of Emperor. He acknowledged at the same time the services of
his brother by making him heir, though he had heirs in his own sons.
Khaishan’s first act was to give homage to his ancestors in the temple
devoted to their service. Next he carried out the judgment passed by
Batra against the adherents of Ananda. Ananda himself, with Melik
Timur, his close intimate, and Bulagan, the Empress had to die
according to sentence. They had broken the laws of the Yassa by their
efforts to dispose of the throne without winning consent from Jinghis
Khan’s family.
Khaishan’s acts as a ruler were not merely paltry, they were harmful,
except this, that he had one work of Confucius translated into Mongol,
and also many sacred texts of the Buddhists. He angered the Chinese by
favoring Lamas beyond measure. A law was passed that whosoever struck a
Lama his hand should be cut off, and whoso spoke against a Lama should
have his tongue cut out. Given to women and wine, Khaishan died at the
age of thirty-one, in the year 1311. His brother Batra was then
proclaimed Emperor, but with the condition that a son of Khaishan
should be his heir. The feast of installation lasted for a week. At an
hour designated by astrologers he ascended the throne and was saluted
under the name Bayantu. The first act of this sovereign was to punish
those ministers who, taking advantage of Khaishan’s incompetence, had
acquired wealth for themselves through injustice; he put to death some
of these, and sent others to exile.
Notwithstanding an ordinance made by Kubilai, examinations of scholars
had not been reëstablished. Bayantu brought them now into use, thus
winning good will from the learned. He prohibited the employment of
eunuchs in every office, though he infringed his own law the year
following (1315), by making a eunuch Grand Mandarin. Bayantu was
himself a scholar and encouraged learned men. Among many who are
mentioned as being guests at his court is Chahan, one of the most
celebrated scholars of his time.
Now comes the great cause, and beginning of ruin for the ruling line of
the Mongols in China: the struggle among members of that line for
dominion. Though Bayantu was made heir on condition that he appoint to
that dignity one of his nephews, he removed his nephew, Kushala, the
eldest son of Kuluk Khan (Kaishan) the late Emperor, and sent him to
live in Yun nan as its governor. The officers of Kushala’s household
looked upon this as exile, and in crossing Shen si they persuaded many
Mongol commanders in those parts to take arms in Kushala’s favor. But
when Kushala saw himself abandoned soon after by those very officers,
he fled to the Altai for refuge among the Khans of Jagatai. Thereupon
the Emperor appointed as heir his own son Shudi Bala.
Bayantu died in February, 1320, his age being somewhat beyond thirty
years.
His first minister was a Mongol named Temudar, who made himself odious
by countless deeds of injustice. Accused by the censors of the Empire,
he was driven from office, and given a death sentence, but the Empress
delayed the execution. While the case was still pending Bayantu died,
and the Empress reinstated her favorite in all former dignities. Shudi
Bala, or Gheghen Khan, the new Emperor, mourned sincerely for his
father, fasted long and gave large sums in charity. Through regard for
his mother he did not act against Temudar, but he gave his confidence
to Baidju, a descendant of Mukuli, Jinghis Khan’s great commander.
Temudar took revenge on many of his enemies, but after his death which
took place in 1322 a host of accusers attacked this oppressor. Fear
restrained them no longer, hence they called loudly for justice and
obtained it as far as was possible at that time. The Emperor degraded
the dead minister by cancelling his titles, destroying his tomb, and
seizing his property. Those who had shared in Temudar’s crimes, among
others his adopted son Tekchi, formed a plan to assassinate Shudi Bala
and Baidju, his first minister, and give the throne then to Yissun
Timur, a son of Kamala, brother of Kuluk Khan.
Tekchi, being military inspector, had immense power in the army, and he
sent off in secret to Yissun Timur, who was then at the Tula, an
officer named Walus. This man bore a letter with sixteen names affixed
to it. In this letter the plan was explained, and Yissun invited to be
Emperor. The prince had Walus arrested and sent at once an account to
the Emperor of the plot against his person. The couriers were late in
arriving. The conspirators, fearing lest the plot be discovered,
resolved to finish all without waiting for an answer. Shudi Bala had
set out from Shang tu, his summer residence, for Ta tu, the chief
capital, and while he was spending the night at Nanpo, the conspirators
killed Baidju in his tent to begin with, and then forced the guard of
the Emperor’s pavilion. Tekchi himself slew his sovereign. Shudi Bala
was only twenty-one years of age when his death came. This was the
first death by assassination that there had ever been in the Imperial
family of the Mongols. Two princes, Antai Buga and Yesien Timur, seized
the great seal, with other insignia of dominion, and bore them to
Yissun Timur, son of Kamala, who proclaimed himself Emperor at the
Kerulon River, and granted a pardon to all men.
At first he intended to place at the head of affairs those who had
brought him dominion through their murders; but when experienced
advisers explained to the new sovereign clearly that if this were done
the whole nation might suspect him of complicity, he had Yesien Timur
with two other conspirators arrested and executed in the place where
the Emperor and his minister had been murdered. He then sent two
officers bearing an order to put to death Tekchi with his accomplices,
also their families, and then to confiscate their property.
Sonan, son of Temudar, had been condemned simply to exile, but when the
ministers remarked that he had cut off Baidju’s shoulder with a sabre
stroke, Sonan suffered death with the others. Those princes of the
blood who had joined the conspiracy were sent to various places of
exile.
Yissun Timur entered Ta tu in December, 1323, and early the following
year he appointed as heir his son Asukeba. This paltry monarch did
nothing of note while in power, and died when thirty-six years of age.
Though Asukeba, who was eldest among the four sons of the Emperor, was
heir by appointment, his right to the Empire was challenged. It will be
remembered that when Bayantu had succeeded Kuluk Khan he did so on
condition that he make a son of the latter his heir. Instead of doing
that he kept the place for his own son and removed to a distance
Kuluk’s sons, Tob Timur and Kushala. When the conspiracy against Shudi
Bala, or Gheghen Khan, had succeeded, the second of Kuluk’s sons was in
Southern China, the first in the west far beyond the Altai.
It was easy for Yissun Timur to seize power in their absence, and he
did so. Five years later he died in Shang tu, where he had gone to pass
the summer.
The Empress now sent Upetala, a minister of State, to Ta tu to seize
each department seal. Her son Asukeba, at that time nine years of age,
had been declared heir when in his fifth year, but Yang Timur, governor
of the capital, was the chief of a party which wished a son of Kuluk
Khan to be Emperor. Yang Timur, son of Choahugur, was distinguished as
a warrior, while his position was strengthened by the fame of his
father and grandfather. Raised to high dignities through Kuluk Khan, by
whom he was favored, this governor felt himself bound to the sons of
that Emperor by gratitude, as well as self-interest. When setting out
for Shang tu some months earlier Yissun Timur had given him power in
the capital. Yang Timur now summoned high officials to the palace and
proposed the elevation of one of Kuluk’s sons to Empire, threatening
with death all who showed opposition. After this declaration he
arrested Upetala, and other high functionaries; these men he replaced
by others in whom he had confidence. The troops, who had no knowledge
yet of his intentions, were ordered to kneel, looking southward, and
touch the earth with their foreheads. This was to indicate that through
them Yang Timur had proclaimed Tob Timur Emperor. That prince was then
in Nan king. The minister had urged him to hasten, and now announced
his early arrival.
Three descendants of Jinghis with fourteen high officials conspired to
slay the first minister for his unparalleled daring. Yang Timur,
learning of their plot, seized the seventeen and put to death every man
of them.
Meanwhile the Empress had Asukeba proclaimed at Shang tu, and chose
Prince Wan tsin, a grandson of Kamala, as first minister. She chose as
commander of the army Taché Timur, a son of the minister Toto, a
Kankali, and gave him the word to attack Yang Timur, who was trying to
cut off Shang tu by seizing other places of importance.
Tob Timur appeared now in Ta tu, assumed power and made appointments to
office. He put to death Upetala, the minister, and sent Toto to exile
with other persons whom Yang Timur had imprisoned. The governor urged
the prince to proclaim himself Emperor, but he insisted that power
belonged by right to his elder brother, Kushala, who besides had more
merit because of his services. At last, however, he agreed to the
installation, and promised to act till the coming of Kushala, but he
declared that he would yield up the throne on his arrival.
The Empire once established, Yang Timur marched toward Liao tung to
meet an army moving in the interest of Asukeba, but learning that Wan
tsin had seized a fortress on the way from Shang tu to the capital, he
wheeled about quickly, fell on Wan tsin, and forced him to retreat
toward Mongolia. Other generals in the interior declared for Asukeba.
Temuku advanced from the south on Honan with considerable forces, while
Prince Kokohoa, leading troops from Shen si, took possession of Tung
Kwan, the great fortress. Yessen Timur proclaimed Asukeba in that same
province, and advanced on the capital. Yang Timur faced all these
enemies and conquered. He met Yessen Timur when four leagues from Ta tu
and vanquished his army completely.
Buka Timur, uncle of Yang Timur and commander-in-chief of all forces at
the Liao tung border, on hearing of Tob Timur’s accession invited
Prince Yuelu Timur to join forces and march on Shang tu with him. Tao
la chu, who commanded at the summer palace, sallied forth repeatedly
with partisans of Asukeba, to battle with besiegers, but reduced
finally, he yielded. He surrendered the seal of the Empire and gave up
also the rich jewels belonging to Asukeba. The young Emperor died
shortly after, no one knows in what manner. Temuku, the Liao tung
governor, was killed during battle, weapons in hand. Yuelu Timur, now
master of Shang tu, and possessing the seal of dominion, conducted the
Empress mother to the capital. The minister Tao la chu traveled with
her. Yessen Timur and many other titled prisoners went also. The
Empress was exiled to a place in Pe che li, and Tao la chu, Wan tsin,
Yessen Timur and other lords of their party suffered death at the
capital.
News of this tragedy at Shang tu spread soon throughout China, and
caused the partisans of Asukeba to cease all resistance.
Tob Timur sent officers now to Kushala beyond the Gobi desert, to
declare what had happened and urge him to hasten. Kushala, as if
distrusting his brother, and feeling that danger was before him,
advanced very slowly, but when near the Mongol capital he proclaimed
himself sovereign. Tob Timur sent his first minister to Kara Kurum to
Kushala with the great seal of State, as well as the robes and regalia
of Empire. Kushala was courteous and genial in meeting his brother’s
first minister, and charged him at parting to tell Tob Timur that he
would confirm his appointments. At the same time the new Emperor named
his own ministers, and sent one of them to inform Tob Timur that the
throne was made his in succession.
Tob Timur and his first minister set out for Shang tu now without
loitering, and met the new sovereign a little north of the city. That
same evening, while at a feast, Kushala became ill on a sudden and died
some days later (1329). A report went abroad that he had been poisoned;
suspicion touched Yang Timur, the first minister. Kushala was thirty
years old when he died, and was entitled Ming tsong in Chinese.
Eight days after the death of Kushala, Tob Timur was made Emperor the
second time.
Tob Timur’s reign, however, was brief, and during his day nothing
happened of importance, except the personal plotting and treason of
Tukien, a prince of the blood, and governor in the Yun nan province,
who in 1330 took the title of King of Yun nan, and revolted. He was put
down by force the year following this action, 1331. Like Yissun Timur
and Kuluk, who preceded him, Tob Timur favored Buddhism greatly. He
appointed large sums to build temples, and brought from Uigur regions a
renowned Lama, Nien chin kilas, whom he called “Instructor of the
Emperor.” Tob Timur commanded the highest personages to advance to meet
this great Lama. All persons whom he addressed bent the knee to him, by
order, and served wine to the Lama, who received it without any
answering civility. Shocked at his haughtiness, the chief of the great
Chinese college in presenting wine spoke thus to him: “You are a
follower of Buddha and chief of all the Ho Chang. I am a follower of
Confucius, and chief of all scholars. Confucius is not less illustrious
than Buddha, and there is no need of this ceremony between us.” The
Lama smiled, rose and received as he stood there the cup which the
chief held before him. Notwithstanding these marks of the Emperor’s
favor Lamas and Uigurs conspired with powerful Mongols to put on the
throne Yuelu Timur, a son of Ananda. The plot was discovered and the
conspirators died for their treason. Yuelu Timur died with the others.
The Emperor was anxious to please learned men and thus win the Chinese;
hence he decreed new honors to the father and mother of Confucius, as
well as to some of his disciples. Having ordered the college of Han
lin, in which were found the best scholars of the Empire, to describe
Mongol history and manners, he visited that body one day, and conferred
long on history; he commanded to bring then the memoirs of his own
reign. The officers of his suite went to bring them. No opposition was
offered till Liu sse ching, a subaltern in the college, fell at Tob
Timur’s feet and explained that that tribunal was bound in all
sacredness to write down exactly the good and bad deeds of Emperors,
princes and great men, and write them down without favor, that these
records were not to be seen by any one save high officials of the
College of Historians until after the death of the Emperor. During time
immemorial no sovereign had violated the annals of his dynasty, much
less those of his own reign, and he hoped that the Emperor would not be
the first to infringe on this sacred and long honored usage. Tob Timur
yielded, and even praised the official for his courage and honesty.
Occupied with his own pleasures mainly, and leaving State cares to his
minister, Tob Timur became a nonentity. He died in 1332 at Shang tu,
being twenty-nine years of age when his life ended.
Though the throne had been appointed to a son of Kushala, Yang Timur
proposed to the Empress Putacheli to inaugurate a son of the late
Emperor. Tob Timur had so loved the first minister that he gave him his
one son to educate, bestowing on the youth the new name Yang Tekus, and
took Targai, the minister’s son, to be reared in the palace. The
Empress wished to enthrone a boy of seven years, Ylechebe, second son
of Kushala, who had been named heir by the late sovereign. She had this
boy proclaimed, and then became regent, but the health of Ylechebe was
feeble, and he died some months afterward. The Chinese name Ning tsong
was bestowed on him.
Yang Timur now made fresh efforts in favor of Yang Tekus, but the
Empress objected that this prince was too young; Tob Timur, she
declared, had promised Kushala to leave the throne to a son of his, and
she informed the ex-minister that she had sent an officer to visit
Kuang si and bring Togan Timur, Kushala’s eldest son, to Ta tu at the
earliest.
The prince was thirteen years of age at that period. At the beginning
of Tob Timur’s reign, Putacheli had put to death the Empress Papucha,
wife of Kushala, and sent her son, Togan Timur, to an island off the
coast of Corea with the command to let no man whatever approach him.
When a year had passed the report ran that Togan Timur had been exiled
because he was the true and rightful heir to the Empire. Tob Timur
declared in reply, that Kushala had had no children in Mongolia, hence
Togan Timur was no son of his. But he brought the boy back and sent him
to live at Kuang si in South China
When Togan Timur was some leagues from the capital, Yang Timur, with
princes and persons of distinction, set out to meet him. But, little
satisfied with the reception given him by Togan and the persons
accompanying him, Yang Timur delayed the enthronement. The coming
Emperor saw his fault, and tried to repair it by marrying Peyao, Yang
Timur’s daughter. While discussing this matter, and settling its
details, death struck the minister. Since Tob Timur’s advent to
authority this minister had been all-powerful; no person or combination
of persons however mighty had been able to successfully oppose him; he
had done what he wished in all cases; he had forced the widow of Yissun
Timur, an Empress, to marry him, and had dared to take forty princesses
descended from Jinghis, the great conqueror, and make them his
concubines; some of them he retained for three days only. His death,
hastened by incontinence and drink, assured the throne to the son of
Kushala. The Empress published the last will of the late Emperor, and
Togan Timur was made sovereign immediately, with the promise to demand
of the Empress that Yang Tekus, her son, would succeed him.
The new Emperor’s bent was toward luxury and pleasure, and he did
nothing of service to any one. Peyen became minister, and Satun chief
commander of the army. Satun, Yang Timur’s eldest brother, died soon
after he had entered on his office, and was succeeded by Tang Kichi,
the eldest son of that renowned minister, and therefore brother of
Peyao, the young Empress. Togan Timur, wishing now to win Yang Timur’s
powerful family, had raised Peyao to the highest rank possible to a
woman. Tang Kichi, fiery and envious by nature, was enraged at seeing
Peyen decide by himself the highest questions, hence he formed a plot
to raise to the throne Hoan ho Timur, a grandson of Mangu the Emperor
and a son of Shireki.
The conspirators, among whom with Tang Kichi were Targai, his brother,
and Talientali, Tang Kichi’s uncle, planned to secrete troops and seize
the Shang tu summer palace. Peyen, informed of this plot by a prince of
the blood, gave command to arrest Tang Kichi and Targai in the palace.
Tang Kichi, who strove to defend himself, was cut down and killed where
they found him. Targai fled to the apartment of his sister, the
Empress, who tried to conceal him with her garments; but she failed for
the men hunting Targai cared not for her modesty, hence he was
discovered and sabred to death in her presence. Peyao herself fared no
better, for Peyen obtained from the Emperor an order to kill her, and
charged himself with the office of headsman.
When Peyao saw him enter her apartments she divined what he wanted, and
rushing to the Emperor’s chamber, begged life of him. Little touched by
the tears of his consort, Togan Timur replied very coolly that her
uncle and her brothers had plotted against him, and he would do nothing
to save her. She was taken from the palace to some house where Peyen
himself killed her. Talientali defended his life arms in hand till he
fled to Hoan ho Timur’s mansion, where the blood hunters slew him. Hoan
ho was forced to raise hands on himself, and be his own executioner.
Thus the great family of Yang Timur, the late minister, was
extinguished.
Emperors of a day, palace tragedies, murders, civil war, and weakness
roused up the Chinese at last, and they began to cast off the Mongol
yoke. Revolts broke out in Honan, Su chuan, and Kuang tung
simultaneously; they were stifled at the very inception. The Mongol
court became thoroughly suspicious of the Chinese. In 1336 it
prohibited them from having horses and arms and forbade them to use the
language of the Mongols, their masters.
Peyen, the all-powerful minister, had reached now the acme of his
influence, and was approaching his ruin and his doom. This man had the
boldness to put to death without the Emperor’s knowledge a prince of
the blood of Jinghis, and to exile two others. Ambitious and merciless,
greedy and insolent to the utmost, he had drawn to his person the
hatred of all save the Emperor and his own tools and creatures. Togan
Timur knew nothing whatever of Peyen’s activity, being guarded most
strictly by that minister’s servants, who owed all they had to their
master. The blow came in 1340 from Peyen’s own nephew, Toktagha. This
man, a mere officer of the guards, undertook to explain to the Emperor
the real condition of the country and succeeded. Measures taken in
secret secured Peyen’s downfall. The moment was chosen when the
minister was absent on a hunting trip; when he returned he was not
permitted to reëenter the capital. He was driven to an exile in South
China, and died, as exiles usually died, while on the way. His brother,
Machartai, took his place as first minister.
This same year, 1340, the Emperor removed from the hall of Imperial
ancestors Tob Timur’s tablet, and excluded from his court the Empress
widow. He exiled also, to Corea, Yang Tekus, treated as heir up to that
time. This action was explained by an edict which was worded thuswise
in substance: “At the death of Kuluk Khan the Empress, yielding to
intrigues, excluded from court Kushala Khan, my own father, and made
him prince of Yun nan to be rid of him. When Shudi Bala (Gheghen Khan)
was slain, the throne was given to Kushala, who for safety had
withdrawn beyond the Gobi desert. While my father was returning rule
was tendered Tob Timur, who accepted on condition of yielding to
Kushala on the latter’s arrival. Meanwhile he sent the seal of Empire
to the coming Emperor, who was journeying toward his capital. My
father, to reward his brother’s apparent zeal, appointed him successor.
In pay for this Tob Timur and his adherents went to meet the Emperor,
and caused his death, while showing him great marks of kindness. Then
my uncle took the throne a second time. False to the word which he had
given my father, he appointed his own son successor. He put to death
the Empress Papucha, and sent me as an exile to distant regions. He
even tried to prove that I was not Kushala’s son. Heaven punished well
this man for so many offenses by taking his life from him. Putacheli,
through abuse of authority, placed on the throne to my prejudice a
child of seven years, my own brother. When he died the great men and
princes gave me that dominion which was due me as eldest son of the
Emperor Kushala. My first care has been to purge the court of those
intriguers, who breathe only murder and dissensions. Filled with
gratitude for Heaven’s favor I cannot uphold those whom its justice has
abandoned. Let the right tribunal repair to the hall of Imperial
ancestors and remove thence Tob Timur’s tablet; let Putacheli be
deprived of her title and appanage of an Empress, and be conveyed to
Tong ngan chiu; let Yang Tekus go to Corea as an exile; let all others
who have shared this mystery of crime and are still living get the
punishment befitting their offenses.”
Yang Tekus was sent to Corea under Yue Kusar, a mandarin, who took his
life on the journey. Putacheli was sent to the exile appointed, and
died there soon after. Fearing lest people might impute these cruel
acts to his counsels, Machartai the minister, who disapproved them,
resigned, and his place was taken by Toktagha, his son, and by Timur
Buga.
At this time were completed annals of the Liao, the Kin, and the Sung
dynasties. Kubilai at beginning his reign had commanded to write
memoirs of the first and second of these dynasties, the memoirs being
officially established, and after its fall memoirs of the Sung dynasty
also. He wished too that the data on which they were founded should
form a part of those annals. These labors, neglected, notwithstanding
his orders and those of his immediate successors, were but slightly
advanced when Togan Timur became Emperor. To finish them he
established, under Toktagha, a commission of the most eminent scholars
in the Empire. These men produced annals of those three dynasties.
Besides there were in these works calendars; methods of astronomical
research; lists of great men and their biographies; lists of books
published by scholars; and in the Sung history a library of books on
all subjects. There were also statistics touching several foreign
countries, and detailed description of States paying tribute to the
dynasties.
At the end of three years Toktagha, disgusted with court life, retired
from office. When consulted about a successor he recommended Alutu, a
descendant in the fourth generation from Boörchu, the first man of
Jinghis Khan’s comrades and one of his four bravest warriors. Alutu
when in office exiled Machartai and Toktagha. In 1347 his place was
taken by Pierkie Buga, son of the minister Agutai, who had been put to
death by Kuluk Khan’s order. This last man held the place only a few
months. Turchi, his successor, demanded as colleague Tai ping who
obtained the recall of Toktagha, whose father, Machartai, had died
while in exile. Toktagha was not slow in regaining the Emperor’s favor,
which he made use of to send Tai ping of whom he was jealous into
exile.
All this time the insurrection was spreading rapidly in Southern China.
In 1341 two private persons had raised troops in Hu kuang, and seized
many cities. Discontent had grown rife in Shan tung, while robber bands
ravaged other regions. A pirate chief, Fang kwe chin, harried the
coasts of Che kiang and Kiang nan. This man sailed up southern rivers,
plundered cities, and ruined commerce, turning specially to vessels
filled with grain, rice and various provisions intended for the
capital. The Mongols seemed to disregard these the earliest attacks,
and disorders increased very rapidly. Those who raised them made use of
the great public works undertaken in 1351 by the government.
The damage wrought by Hoang Ho floods caused the plan of opening a new
bed for a part of the river. An embankment eighty leagues long was
undertaken. More than seventy thousand men were employed at this labor,
either warriors, or men who lived on both banks of the river, or near
them. The insurgents enrolled some impressed laborers, as well as men
whose lands had been taken for the new river bed, and who were to find
land in other places. Fresh taxes imposed to carry out those works
increased dissatisfaction.
Han chan tong, an obscure private person, seeing the ferment of minds,
raised the report that Fohi (Buddha) had now appeared to deliver the
Chinese from Mongol oppression. He roused rebellion in Honan, Kiang
nan, and Shan tung, but the chief leaders, knowing that this story
would not be accepted unless strengthened, gave out to the world that
Han chan tong was of the Sung dynasty, and eighth in descent from Hwei
tsung. They took an oath to him, sacrificing a black bull, and a white
stallion. They chose then a red cap as ensign. This pretender to Sung
blood had very poor fortune, however. Attacked by the Mongols, he was
captured and killed by them, but his wife, and his son, Han lin ulh,
fled and continued the struggle.
The first reverse did not cast down those rebels. Their principal
chief, Liau fu tong, captured cities in Kiang nan and passed over then
to Honan with a numerous army. Other chiefs enrolled malcontents in
Kiang nan and Hu kuang and gave them the red cap as ensign. One rebel
chief, Siu chiu hwei, was proclaimed Emperor at Ki chiu, a city in Hu
kuang, and he gave the title Tien wan to the dynasty which he was
seeking to establish.
After a feeble resistance the Mongols abandoned the whole Yang tse
region. A comet appeared now, and a report was spread widely by the
rebels that this heralded Togan Timur’s early downfall. The Mongol
Government to conciliate men who had the most influence over people
admitted to offices of all kinds those Chinese scholars in the south,
who till then had been able to act only in matters touching literature
and commerce, and were wholly unfitted for military command.
The government despatched to Honan an army commanded by Yessen Timur, a
brother of Toktagha, the prime minister, and exiled to the distant
north Yng kwe, a true descendant of the Sung family, with an order not
to let him communicate with any man. This was done since most rebel
chiefs hid their plans of ambition under pretext of putting the prince
on the throne of his fathers.
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 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 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 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.
In the North the adherents of Ming wang, the pseudo Sung Emperor who
desolated Shen si and Honan, were beaten in Shen si by Chagan Timur,
the Mongol general. Liau fu tong, Ming wang’s first minister, had
mastered Honan for the greater part, and now wished to capture Kai fong
fu, the capital of Honan, and establish in that place the court of his
sovereign. Two army corps which he had sent to Shan tung committed
great ravages. Pe pu sin, chief of one corps of these warriors, entered
Shen si somewhat later, captured Tsin long with Kong chang, and laid
siege to Fong tsiang. Chagan Timur, who hastened to rescue this city,
surprised Pe pu sin and captured his baggage. Pe pu sin fled to Su
chuan and thus saved himself. The rebel force which had burst into Shan
tung and taken many cities defeated Talima che li and laid siege to Tsi
nan, the chief city of Shan tung and its capital.
When Tong toan siao arrived from Honan with a Mongol division he
defeated the rebels at the walls of Tsi nan and then left the place;
but barely had he gone when Mao kwe, who commanded the pseudo Sung
forces, attacked this central city of Shan tung and captured it. Then
he pursued Tong toan siao, closed with his forces, and killed him in
battle. After this victory in 1357 Mao kwe seized the city of Ho kien
and made raids to the very edge of Ta tu, the capital of the Mongol
Empire. It was thought by some members of the council, that the Emperor
should immediately withdraw from Ta tu, but the minister, Tai ping,
opposed this, and summoned Liu kara Buga, a good general, who defeated
Maok we, and forced him back on Tsi nan, which he had taken. While one
of his detachments was threatening the capital in this way Liau fu tong
seized Kai fong fu, from which the governor had withdrawn on a sudden.
Liau fu long then established his Emperor in that city, which had been
a residence of the Kin dynasty just previous to its downfall. Then he
sent north of the Hoang Ho two divisions of warriors under Kwan sien
seng and Po te u pan, who had ravaged Shan si for the greater part. The
first of these leaders took a long turn northward to Liao tung, whose
capital, Liao yang, he plundered, and even touched the border of Corea
while ravaging. Doubling back, he made the long march to the Emperor’s
great summer residence, Shang tu, which he captured and pillaged; and
his warriors burned Kubilai Khan’s splendid palace in that city.
In the South Siu chiu hwei had made himself master of most of Hu kwang
and a part of Kiang si. Chu yuan chang, the coming Emperor,
strengthened his position in Kiang nan, and set about conquering Che
kiang in its Eastern division. He received the submission of the
pirate, Fang kwe chin, who, threatened in the West by Chang se ching
and in the south by Chin yiu ting, master in Fu kien, preferred to be
vassal of a man whom he trusted. The pirate agreed to surrender Wen
chau, Tai chu, and King yuen in southern Che kiang when they came to
him; he sent also his son Fang kwan as a hostage. Chu, believing the
word of this pirate, sent his son back to him, and on receiving the
above mentioned districts he returned to Nan king, where he formed a
strong council to govern those newly won places.
While Chu yuan chang was thus increasing and strengthening his power,
division was rapidly weakening the other two parties. The life of Mao
kwe, the Sung general, was taken by his colleague, Chao kiun yong. To
avenge Mao kwe, Siu ki tsu set out at once from Liao yang and overtook
Chao kiun yong at Y tu, where he struck him down straightway and killed
him. Dissensions were still more rife among Siu chiu hwei’s partisans.
Chin yiu liang, a general of this founder of the Tien wan would-be
dynasty, had just captured Sin chiu (Kuang sin) on the eastern border
of Kiang si after a siege which was famous for desperate resistance
(1358). The defenders were led by Ta chin nu of the blood of Jinghis,
and by Beyen Buga, a descendant of the Idikut of the Uigurs. Both these
men perished in the deadly encounter. The provisions in the garrison
became so reduced that the warriors ate the flesh of those of their
comrades who had perished. At last they killed all of the inhabitants
who through age or weakness could not aid in the defence and used them
for food. The place was finally captured by means of an underground
passage. At this juncture Siu chiu hwei wished to transfer his capital
from Han yang to Nan chang fu, a recent conquest, though the general
who was with him opposed it lest his influence might be lessened.
The pretender went by way of Kiu kiang. Chin yiu liang went out to meet
him under pretext of showing great honor, but when Siu chiu hwei had
entered Kiu kiang, the gates were closed quickly behind him, and
troops, waiting silently in ambush, cut down his attendants. Chin,
master now of the Emperor’s person, spared his life and his title, but
he confined him, and called himself Prince of Han. Somewhat later he
marched on Tai ping, with his prisoner, and when he had captured that
city he beat the Sin chiu to death in his barge, with a crowbar.
Chin now proclaimed himself Emperor, named his dynasty the Han, and
returned to Kiu kiang, whence he had set out on his enterprise.
Chagan Timur, the Mongol general, seeing the Sung party divided,
planned now to capture Nan king with Liau fu tong and his Emperor. He
so arranged the march of his three army divisions that they arrived
over different roads simultaneously. Nan king thus found itself
invested on a sudden. He cut off all provisions, intending to weaken
the city, or perhaps take it by famine. When he saw that provisions in
Nan king were exhausted, he delivered a general assault in the night
time, scaled the walls, and took the place. Liau fu tong escaped to
Ngan fong with his Emperor.
In 1353 Togan Timur had made Aiyuchelitala his heir, and published a
general amnesty. Seven years later the heir in accord with Ki, the
Empress, his mother, wished that Tai ping, the first minister, should
prevail on Togan to resign and leave him dominion. The minister would
not try this experiment, hence they strove to destroy him. The heir had
poisoned a number of the minister’s partisans to weaken him. Tai ping,
exposed then to every blow and attack of a daring conspiracy, retired
from his office. Power passed after that to a eunuch, Pa pu hwa, and to
Cho se kien, two infamous men who had no thought except to increase
their own wealth and authority, and who kept the weak and debauched
Emperor in complete ignorance of all things around him.
A quarrel between two Mongol military chiefs at this critical moment is
of interest: Chagan Timur, acting in Shan si, had retaken Tsin ki from
the rebels. Polo Timur, the Tai tung fu governor, declared that this
district belonged to his province, and should not be detached from it.
He advanced with troops therefore to take the place. Chagan protested.
The Emperor settled the boundaries and the generals withdrew, each man
to the region assigned him. Hardly had they obeyed when the Emperor
commanded Chagan to yield up Ki ning to his rival, but Chagan replied
that Ki ning was needed to defend Kai fong fu, and reassembling his
warriors he moved now against Polo. Again orders came from the Emperor;
the movement was stopped, and the governors laid down their weapons,
though unwillingly.
This same year (1360) a storm rose in the North, which at first seemed
more dangerous by far than the rebellion in China. More than once had
the Emperor ordered princes of his family to aid him with troops in
defending his dominions; but now one of these princes, Ali hwei Timur,
seventh in descent from Ogotai, tried to seize the throne for his own
use, instead of helping its occupant. This prince was advancing with
aid, but when some days march from the Great Wall of China, he declared
that Togan Timur the Emperor was powerless to preserve that which he
had received from his ancestors; that he had lost more than half of it
already. Ali hwei then invited the Emperor to yield what remained of
the inheritance. Tukien Timur, whom the Emperor sent to crush this bold
rebel, was beaten and withdrew on Shang tu to find refuge. The Mongol
court was in terror and hurried on forces, but at this juncture the
rebel prince was betrayed by his own men, and delivered to the
Emperor’s general who commanded him to be put to death immediately.
Chagan Timur, having won back Honan, put garrisons in the principal
cities and passed over then to Shan tung to restore it to the Mongols.
On reaching this province he received the submission of Tien fong and
Wang se ching, two chiefs of the rebels. He divided his army into
several corps and sent these into action on all sides. He himself went
to Tsi nan, the chief city, or capital, to besiege it, and took the
place after three months’ investment. After that he attacked Y tu, the
only place left those insurgents at that time, 1362. Tien fong and Wang
se ching repented now of having aided this shrewd leader of the
Mongols, so they plotted death to him. Tien fong invited the general to
a review of his army, and Chagan Timur, who accounted Tien fong as the
best among all of his intimates, took with him only a dozen attendants.
Barely had he entered the tent of his host when Wang se ching gave him
a death blow. The two friends hurried then with their forces and
entered Y tu as had been agreed with the governor. Kuku Timur, the
murdered man’s son by adoption, inherited his dignities and title, and
continued the siege of Y tu in obedience to the Emperor. He attacked
the place eagerly, and finding resistance as brave as the onset, he
turned to dig tunnels, and dug till he worked himself into that city
and took it. The chief of the rebels he sent to the Emperor, but Tien
fong and Wang se chin he reserved for his personal and exquisite
vengeance. He brought them bound and alive to the coffin of Chagan
Timur, and there tore their hearts out, those hearts he then offered to
the spirit of his father. All the troops of these men who had followed
them into the city were put to the sword without exception.
A new Emperor appeared now in Su chuan, an officer named Ming yu chin,
who had been sent to conquer this province by Siu chiu hwei just before
he was beaten to death with a crowbar. Ming yu chin, having learned of
the murder of his master, made conquests for himself and finished by
capturing the Su chuan capital, where he proclaimed himself Emperor and
called his dynasty the Hia.
Now began war between Chu yuan chang, the coming Emperor of China, and
Chin yiu liang, that seeker for Empire who, when a general, had beaten
to death with a crowbar his own would-be Emperor, Siu chiu hwei. Chin
had taken Tai ping and advanced to the lands of Nan king. Chu yuan
marched against him, and when he had taken Nan king he found Chin near
Kiu kiang and cut his army to pieces. Chin fled to Wu chang. Chu yuan
captured Kiu kiang, and then Nan chang fu. Master of this capital, he
received submission from the principal cities of Kiang si. Chin,
wishing to win back Nan chang fu at all hazards, equipped a vast number
of vessels and laid siege to the city, which he pressed cruelly, hoping
to take the place before Chu yuan chang could appear with relief for
it; but those in command made a gallant defence and were able to notify
Chu yuan of their peril. Chu yuan sailed away from Nan king to assist
them with his flotilla, bearing on it a numerous army. To cut off
retreat from his enemy he ranged all his craft near Hu kiu, where Lake
Poyang joins the Kiang si through a channel. Chin, who had besieged Nan
chang eighty-five days in succession, raised the siege straightway, and
entered the lake, where he met Chu’s flotilla. The battle raged for
three days, when Chin, who had lost most of his vessels, was killed by
an arrow. Chin chan ulh, his eldest son, named by him successor, was
captured, and his principal officers yielded to the victor. Chin li,
the second son, fled to Wu chang and proclaimed himself Emperor; but
besieged, and seeing his cause in utter chaos, he yielded without
asking conditions. The surrender of this capital of Hu kuang was
followed by that of the province. Conquest was made easy now by Chu
yuan changes reputation for leniency, and the discipline of his army.
Before this campaign which destroyed the would-be new dynasty of Han,
Chu yuan, learning that Chang se ching and Liu chin had captured Ngan
fong, where the Sung Emperor was living, and that they had slain Liau
fu tong, his commander in that city, advanced toward it and defeated
Liu chin. Giving up command of his army then to his general, Su ta, Chu
charged him in 1366 with the investing of Hiu chiu. The Mongols
recaptured Ngan fong after Chu yuan chang had departed.
Now new troubles burst forth among the Mongols, and first that which
seemed most serious: After the murder of Chagan Timur, the one man who
might have restored Mongol authority in China, Polo Timur, his
opponent, strove to capture Tsin ki, and, in spite of repeated commands
from the Emperor, he sent troops to take the place. These troops were
defeated by Kuku Timur, son of Chagan. Polo Timur then desisted, but
another event armed him soon against even the Emperor. The weakness of
the sovereign favored factions, and the heir, who was unprincipled and
ambitious, took active part in the struggles of rivals. Cho se kien,
the first minister, persuaded the heir that many great persons, whom he
named, were ready to rise in rebellion; he then induced him to ruin
them. The prince accused these men to his father, and through his power
of insistence brought death to two leading persons.
Cho se kien and the eunuch, Pa pu hwa, bound to each other by criminal
plotting, now feared lest Tukien Timur, a friend of the two men just
done to death without reason, might avenge them, hence they decided to
destroy Tukien also. They brought a criminal action against him. Polo
Timur roused a defender to act for him. The heir, enraged by this
daring, accused Polo himself of complicity with Tukien and had him
stripped of his office. Polo refused to yield up command and his enemy
Kuku Timur was sent to constrain him. Polo knew that this order had
been given without the Emperor’s knowledge, and induced Tukien to make
a feint on the capital, hence he seized the Kiu yong kwan fortress.
They wished to bring the Emperor to banish the man who had taken
possession of him. Ye su, who commanded the place next that fortress,
attacked Tukien Timur, but his forces were utterly broken. Thereupon
the heir, not feeling secure in the capital, fled northward for safety.
Tukien now advanced to the river Tsing ho, where he halted to wait for
the Emperor’s decision. He declared that Polo Timur, by whose orders he
was acting, had no dream of failing in duty to the Emperor, he merely
desired to deliver his sovereign from Cho se kien and Pa pu hwa the two
traitors; he would retire the moment these direst foes of the Emperor
were given to him. They meditated long at the court over this
proposition, counter proposals were made, but Tukien remained firm and
retired only when the two ministers were put in his possession and Polo
Timur was reinstated in office.
Mongol dominion had fallen in China and civil war was raging around
Shang tu. The heir, a rebel also, was ordered back to Ta tu by the
Emperor. He obeyed, but if he did it was simply to assemble an army and
send it under Kuku Timur to fall upon Polo at Tai tung fu, his
headquarters. Polo, leaving men to defend the place, hastened on to Ta
tu with the bulk of his army. The heir advanced to the river Tsing ho,
but at sight of Polo’s large army his forces fled to Ta tu, and not
feeling safe even in that place, went out through the western gate to
join Kuku Timur, then near Tai yuen fu, the Shan si capital. The heir
followed them. When they had gone Polo entered Ta tu, and going with a
party of his generals to the palace fell at the feet of the Emperor and
received pardon for those acts to which, as he said, he had been
driven.
Togan Timur made him commander-in-chief and first minister. Polo now,
1364, put to death Tolo Timur, the Emperor’s favorite and companion in
debauchery; he drove from the palace a legion of parasites, among
others a real cohort of eunuchs and the whole throng of Lamas. At his
request the Emperor sent courier after courier to the heir demanding
his return to the palace. The heir, far from obeying, resolved to try
arms against Polo, his now all-powerful opponent. The recent example of
Tukien Timur was in this case most apposite.
When Polo learned that the heir was advancing he arrested Ki, the
Empress, and forced her to send in her own hand an order by which she
recalled her son to the capital. This done he sent Tukien toward Shang
tu to oppose the heir’s Mongol partisans on that side. He sent Ye su, a
general, to attack Kuku Timur and the heir, who was with him. Ye su had
not marched seven leagues to the south beyond Ta tu when he saw that
the officers in his army were dissatisfied with Polo, so he assembled
the chief ones, and in counsel it was resolved to obey that first
minister no longer. They therefore turned back toward Yong ping a short
distance, from which point Ye su informed Kuku Timur and the princes in
Mongolia of the resolve they had taken.
Polo Timur in despair at this defection sent against Ye su Yao pe yen
Buga, his best general. Ye su surprised this man, cut his army to
pieces, took him prisoner, and killed him. Polo Timur took the field
now himself, but a rain storm which lasted three days and nights
prevented all immediate action, and he returned to the capital. The
opposition which he met rendered him so distrustful that he put several
officers to death on suspicion. Seeking to drown in wine his sad humor,
and the grief which had seized him, he grew both ferocious and
pitiless. More than once, while in those moods he killed men with his
own hand, and he soon became odious to every one.
Ho chang, son of the Prince of Wei chun, got a secret order from the
Emperor to put an end to Polo and his partisans, and soon he found the
occasion to do so.
Polo receiving news of the capture of Shang tu, a victory over Mongol
adherents of the heir, hurried on to inform the Emperor, but just as he
was entering the palace he was stopped by Ho chang’s men who opened his
skull with a sabre stroke. When news of this death reached Tukien’s
army the officers deserted their general. Tukien was arrested, and put
to death straightway. The Emperor sent Polo’s head to the heir at Ki
ning and an order for him to appear at the palace. The prince returned
now with Kuku Timur, who became commander-in-chief and first minister.
The heir strove to force Kuku Timur to persuade the Emperor to resign
in his favor, and not finding the minister compliant grew enraged at
him. The Emperor was unwilling to abdicate, but he gave his son power
almost equal to that which he himself had, making him lieutenant in the
Empire. Kuku Timur tried to prevent this, but failed, and was stripped
of his dignities. Thereupon, he retired to Shang si, where he lived in
a stronghold.
While the Mongol court was thus torn asunder by dissension Chu yuan
chang was extending his Empire continually. He lived at Nan king,
working always to establish a government on justice and order, as
recommended by ancient philosophers of China. Meanwhile his generals Su
ta and Chang yu chun attacked Chang si ching, who was master yet of a
part of Che kiang and Kiang nan. In 1366 these two distinguished chiefs
won a great victory over Chang si ching, took Hiu chiu, one of the
wealthiest cities in Che kiang, and also Hang chau, the capital of that
province. The next year they captured Chang si ching in Ping liang, and
took him to Nan king directly. Chu yuan gave the man liberty in return
for his word that he would not go from the city in any case. Chang gave
his word to remain in it, and then hanged himself.
Ming yu chin, who had declared himself Emperor of the Hia dynasty, died
in 1366. Min ching, his son, who was ten years of age, succeeded, with
his mother as regent. This same year Han lin ulh, who claimed to be of
the Sung dynasty, vanished, and with him went his adherents.
Fang kwe chin submitted at last. This faith-breaking pirate had refused
not only to appear before Chu yuan chang, and send tribute, but he had
acted against him in the North in alliance with Kuku Timur, and in the
South with Chin yiu ting, who held a part of the Fu kien province. Chu
then sent his general, Tang ho, to take the cities Wen chau, Tai chu
and King yuen. At the approach of his forces the pirate retired to an
island in the sea. When all those cities soon after opened their gates
to Tang ho the pirate sent his son with submission, and put himself
also at command of the general, who sent him off to Nan king under
escort.
Chu yuan chang undertook now the liberation of all China. Su ta, his
great general, and Chang yu chun marched northward with an army which
numbered one fourth of a million. While Hu ting shui, a third general,
reduced Fu kien and Kuang tung, Yang king took Kwang si and held it.
These southern provinces, tired of oppression from strangers, made no
resistance whatever. First of all Su ta and his colleague took the
country between the Hoai and Hoang Ho, then they crossed the latter
river and entered Shan tung, proclaiming that barbarians, like the
Mongols, were unfitted to rule a polished people from whom they
themselves should receive law and order; that the Mongols had conquered
the Empire, not by their merit, but through Heaven’s aid given
purposely to punish the Chinese. Heaven, roused now by the crimes of
the Mongols, had taken power from them to give it to a warrior filled
with virtue and greatness, a warrior loved and respected by all men who
knew him.
The generals met no resistance in any place. When all Shan tung had
submitted they passed to Honan, where they had success of the same
kind—the gates of every city were opened to their standards.
Togan Timur, who was terrified at the swiftness of these conquests,
sent courier after courier for Kuku Timur, but that general did nothing
to rescue the capital; he held aloof and marched away toward Tai yuen.
Master of China, Chu yuan chang proclaimed himself Emperor at Nan king
on the first day of the Chinese year, February, 1368. He gave the name
Ming to his dynasty, which means light, and to the years of his reign
Hung wu (lucky war), a term applied also to this emperor himself, who
after his death received the title Tai tsu, founder or great ancestor,
which in China is usually given to the founder of a dynasty.
Chu yuan chang, the new Emperor, left Nan king in August, 1368, crossed
the Hoang Ho at Ping lien, and marched on the capital; all cities
submitted to him willingly. At the same time his two generals entered
Pe che li from Shan tung. At this juncture Che li nien, one of Togan
Timur’s ministers, took from the temple of ancestors all tablets of the
Mongol Emperors and fled to the north, the heir fleeing with him. Togan
Timur decided to follow immediately, and naming Timur Buga his
lieutenant, he appointed King tong as defender of the capital. Then,
assembling the princes, princesses and high officials, he declared his
resolve to retire to Mongolia. He set out that same night for Shang tu
with his family. The new Emperor of China was soon at the gates of Ta
tu, which he entered after a very slight struggle. Mongol dominion in
China was ended.
Nearly all China now received the Ming Emperor, and he set about
winning what was still under control of the Mongols. That done he
intended to follow them to their birthland and take it. The fleeing
Mongol Emperor, Togan Timur, did not think himself safe in Shang tu,
hence he hurried northward to Ing chang on the bank of Lake Tal, where
in 1370 his life came to its end. He had reigned thirty-five years, and
was fifty-one years of age.
The Ming forces seized Ing chang and captured Maitilipala, Togan
Timur’s grandson, as well as many princes and princesses and
distinguished persons who were all taken back to China. The heir
escaped safely to Kara Kurum, which now became the one capital of the
Mongols. On learning that this prince had mustered troops in his
homeland and was about to invade China the Ming Emperor in 1372 sent a
strong force, under Su ta, to stop him. Su ta marched to the Kerulon
River and the Tula, but gained no decided advantage. Kuku Timur, the
great Mongol general, died in 1375.
The Mongol heir who died in 1378 had taken the title of Kha kan, White
khan, that is Grand Khan. He was followed by his son Tukus Timur, who
was complimented by the Ming Emperors on his accession to the
sovereignty of the Mongols now driven back to their original home. In
succeeding years the troops of this Khan advanced frequently to violate
Chinese borders, but in 1388 the new Emperor sent an army against Tukus
Timur which defeated him at Buyur lake very thoroughly. His wives, his
second son and more than three thousand officers were captured. Tukus
Timur was assassinated near the Tula while seeking safety in flight.
Yissudar, who did the deed, was a prince of the Emperor’s family, and
seized the throne left by him. The ambition of others roused civil war
which seemed permanent. After long quarrels and short reigns a prince
named Goltsi gained supreme power in 1403. His reign was brief also,
for he fell by an assassin and Buin Shara was made Khan to succeed him.
When in 1408 the Emperor of China invited Buin Shara to declare himself
a vassal, he refused. A Chinese army now invaded Mongolia, but was
defeated near the Tula. Yung lo, the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty,
advanced with a large army in 1410 to the Kerulon River. Prince Olotai,
Buin Shara’s lieutenant, deserted him through ambition, retiring
eastward to the Hailar River. Yung lo defeated both the prince and his
lieutenant, the first on the Onon, the second on the eastern boundary
of Mongolia.
Buin Shara was killed in 1412 by Mahmud, prince of the Uriats, who put
Dalbek on the throne of the Mongols.
During two centuries Mongol princes strove unceasingly to regain lost
dominion; yielding to China when sufficient force was sent against
them, or attacking border provinces of the Empire when those provinces
were left unguarded.
Toward the middle of the seventeenth century, when the Ming dynasty was
nearing its downfall, the Mongols were divided into groups under
various small chieftains, each of whom bore the title Khan.
The Kalkas were in the North in the birthland of the Mongols. West of
them the lands of the former Naimans and the Uigurs were occupied by
the Eleuts; the Chakars, and the Ordos lived in the country between the
Great Wall and the Gobi desert. The Manchu dynasty which during 1644
won dominion in China took under its protection first the easternmost
Mongols and the Kalkas. Strengthened by them, it conquered the Chakars,
and later the Ordos. The Kalkas had preserved thus far independence,
but attacked by the Eleuts they found themselves forced to seek aid
from the Manchu sovereign of China. In 1691 the Emperor Kang hi
received homage from the three Kalka Khans forty leagues north of the
Great Wall. At last toward 1760 the Eleuts themselves were reduced, so
that most of the Mongols proper are to-day subject to China, while the
rest are under the control of Russia.
Remarkable as has been the part played by the Mongols in history the
part to be played by them yet may be far greater. How great and how
varied it may be and of what character is the secret of the future.
THE END.
NOTES
[1] A village or community.
[2] 1161.
[3] 1175.
[4] A tuman is ten thousand.
[5] Great King in Chinese.
[6] The Altai.
[7] Golden Khan, the title of the Kin Emperor in Mongol.
[8] One of the faults with which Jinghis reproached Juchi was
tenderness.
[9] About twenty-seven miles.
[10] A dinar is the fiftieth part of a cent.
[11] Mohammed of Nessa. Nessavi means of Nassa and applies specially to
the historian.
[12] Called Fatimids because they professed to trace their descent to
Fatima the daughter of the Prophet (Mohammed).
[13] The Victorious.
[14] Eagle’s nest.
[15] “Long beard, short wit,” an Arabic proverb.
[16] This man was Nassir ud din the astronomer who had been at Alamut,
and had confounded the astrologer favorable to the Kalif.
[17] Michael Palæologus.