Chapter 5 Chapter 1 Homeless Youth 3. The Red Army Uprising

In the fifth month of the eleventh year from Emperor Shunzheng to Zhengzheng (AD 1351), the poor peasants in the Jianghuai River Basin were especially discriminated against by the Mongolian and Han landlord classes in the Yuan Dynasty. banner.Carrying bamboo poles and hoes, spears and axes, killing bureaucrats, occupying cities, opening warehouses to disperse grain, breaking prisons and releasing prisoners, establishing a name for themselves, and ringing the death knell of the Yuan Dynasty government. This is the famous Red Army uprising in history. The ranks of the Red Army are everywhere.Let’s just pick the important and famous ones: the Eastern Faction launched in Yingzhou, led by Du Zundao and Liu Futong, who occupied the rice warehouse Zhu Gao (the name of the town, belonging to Gushi County, Guangzhou, Henan Province) in the Yuan Dynasty. Hundreds of thousands of people.Captured Runing (now Runan, Henan), Guangzhou, Xizhou, and Xinyang; Zhima Li (Li Er)'s team controlled Xuzhou (now Tongshan, Jiangsu) and nearby counties, as well as Suzhou (now Suxian, Anhui), Wuhe (now Wuhe, Anhui), Hongxian, Feng (now Fengxian, Jiangsu), Pei, Lingbi, south to Anfeng (now Shouxian, Anhui), Hao, Si (now Linhuai, Anhui).The western line started from Qi (now Qichun, Hubei) and Huang (now Huanggang, Hubei). It was organized by monk Peng Yingyu and pushed Xu Zhenyi (Shouhui) as the leader, and captured De'an (now Anlu, Hubei), Mianyang (now Mian, Hubei) Yang), Anlu (now Zhongxiang, Hubei), Wuchang (now Wuchang, Hubei), Jiangling (now Jiangling, Hubei), Jiangxi (now Jiangxi, Jiujiang, Jiangxi and Nanchang) prefectures.Originating in the Xiangshui and Hanshui basins, Tuibu King Sanmeng Haima was the leader: Buwangsan’s team was called the Beisuo Red Army, which occupied Tang (now Tanghe, Henan), Deng (now Dengxian, Henan), and Nanyang (now Nanyang, Henan) , Song (now Song County, Henan), Ru, Henan Prefecture (now Luoyang, Henan and nearby counties), Meng Haima led the Nanzuo Red Army.Occupied Jun (now Junxian, Hubei), Fang (now Fangxian, Hubei), Xiangyang (now Xiangyang, Hubei), Jingmen (now Jingmen, Hubei), and Guixia (now Zigui, Hubei).These red armies all carried the banner of the birth of King Ming and the birth of Maitreya Buddha. In just a few months, red flags were planted from the Huai River basin in the east to the Han River basin in the west, cutting the Yuan Dynasty down like a haunch. Make two paragraphs.

The collapse of the Yuan Dynasty government was due to the brutal exploitation and ruthless oppression of the peasants by the Mongolian and Han bureaucratic landlord class. Due to the brutal and brutal national oppression, plunder and murder, the broad masses of the people stood up and carried out a long-term heroic national struggle. It was due to the corruption of the Mongolian and Han ruling classes and the sharpening of internal contradictions, division, confrontation, mutual killing, and the digging of the own grave.At the beginning of the struggle, it appeared on the stage of history in the form of the class struggle of the oppressed class against the ruling class. In the later period, the essence of the stage struggle was castrated by the participation of the landlord class, and the national struggle was highlighted. Zhu Yuanzhang unified the North and the South, The Ming Dynasty was established.

After the Mongols destroyed the gold, they occupied a vast area of ​​land as pastures, some even covering a thousand hectares or even more than 100,000 hectares.After the Song Dynasty was destroyed, the official land of the Song Dynasty and some noble lands were confiscated.The Mongolian kings, concubines, princesses, high officials, generals, civil officials and generals who surrendered from the Hannan people, monks and temples all occupied a large amount of land by means of encroachment or reward, and reduced the farmers who had cultivated the land into tenants.For example, among the kings, Timur, the king of Jin, only returned 7,000 hectares of land to the court. It is no problem that the land that was not returned must be more than this.The king of Xi'an, Alatina, lost 300 hectares of land in Pingjiang (now Wu County, Jiangsu Province).King Tan Cheche was bald and had two hundred hectares of land from Suzhou.The land confiscated from the concubine of the Song Dynasty was owned by the queen mother, and the general manager of Jianghuai wealth was specially set up to take charge of it.Another large number of confiscated lands belonged to the queen, and the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Finance Offices were specially set up to take charge.During the reign of Emperor Wenzong (AD 1329｜1332), the princess of Lu Kingdom granted 500 hectares of land to Pingjiang and other places.At the time of Emperor Shun, the princess Nulun cited Zhe Si with 5,000 hectares of land.Ministers such as Boyan have five thousand hectares of farmland in Henan.And the land under the jurisdiction of the Rice Field Promotion Division of Baodi County, Jizhou.Tuotuo has the fields of paddy extraction stations in Songjiang and other places.It should be pointed out that the land in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is fertile and densely populated, and a few hundred hectares is an enormous amount.In addition, the surrendered bureaucrats of the Jin and Song not only kept the original land, but also took the opportunity to merge it. Some of them collected 200,000 or 300,000 shi a year in rent, occupying as many as 2,000 to 3,000 tenants.They joined forces with the Mongolian Semu landlords to enslave the people.Because the Yuan Dynasty believed in religion, temples and temples often occupied hundreds or thousands of hectares of land. The largest one, such as Dachengtian Husheng Temple, granted a total of 325,000 hectares of land twice.Dahuguo Renwang Temple has more than 100,000 hectares of land and water fields, and 37,590 tenants.Shen Mingren, a monk of Baiyunzong, seized 20,000 hectares of land from the people.There are more than 500,000 tenants in temples in the south of the Yangtze River.Although the above land occupations did not occur at the same time, nor did this large piece of land belong to the family that first occupied it throughout the historical period of the Yuan Dynasty, but based on these materials, it can also be seen that the Mongolian and Han landlords in the Yuan Dynasty The insatiable class occupation of land, the high concentration of a large amount of land, and the large increase in the number of tenants compared with the previous historical period are the inevitable situations of increasingly fierce class struggle.

The queens, concubines and ministers of Mongolia also have food towns, ranging from a few thousand households to tens of thousands of households, and there are also from one county to more than a dozen counties to one or even three roads.The largest number, such as Boer Tie Ke Dun, has 80,000 households in Zhending Shiyi.Yuan Chengzong used Anxi, Pingjiang, and Jizhou as the food towns of the crown prince.The local officials in Shiyi were recommended by the lord, and the farmers had to pay the five household silk and banknotes to the lord, and also paid taxes to the Yuan Dynasty government.

In this way, a large amount of land was concentrated in the hands of a few Mongolian and Han nobles and bureaucrats, and the majority of farmers and small and medium landlords lost their land, or were forced to be reduced to tenants, or forced to flee to other places.The tenants in the south of the Yangtze River share the harvest with the landlord in half or four or six according to the rules set by the landlord. Number returned.It was only the autumn harvest, and in addition to giving a portion of the grain to the landlord, some tenants used their own portion to repay the debt, which was not enough to pay off the principal and interest, and were forced to use it as a population, as furniture, or even Even the hoe and sickle were broken away, and he couldn't survive, so he had to run away.The more tenants flee, the more land will be abandoned, and the less grain will be produced.The other class of tenants pay high land rents and have to undertake miscellaneous errands for the landlord’s family. As a result of extreme poverty, they cannot afford farm tools and fertilizers.Even if the family has a lot of manpower, the land is fattened up, and the harvest is slightly larger, the landlord will have to increase the rent and cannot afford it, so the land cannot be planted.In some places, the tenants gave birth to male slaves to the landlord, and females to the landlord's concubines. They even signed deeds to buy and sell the land, just like buying and selling livestock.Farmers in the north suffered more than those in the south, and they were exploited for more purposes. The mulberry and jujube crops they planted were often trampled by the Mongolian garrison and bureaucratic landlords’ horse herds. Some fields were simply occupied as pastures, near Dadu (now Beijing) In the area around Kinai, in order to grow horse grass, farmers are often prohibited from autumn plowing.Whenever there is a war, the horses and cattle raised by the farmers are taken away by the government, sometimes at a low price, and sometimes not at all.Farmers from the area north of the Huaihe River to Henan and Hebei fled to the south in groups of hundreds of thousands. There were 150,000 peasant households who fled at one time in the 20th year of Yuan Shizu to Yuan (1283 A.D.).In the twenty-three years, most of the Han people lived in the south of the Yangtze River, and the special envoys all moved back to the north.Officials were also specially sent to check at the checkpoints of the Yellow River, Huaihe River, and Yangtze River. Han people who did not have official documents were not allowed to pass.He also issued a decree that the fugitives must be escorted back to their hometowns, and it was forbidden to gather a crowd of thousands of people, and the penalty for breaking the ban was one hundred sticks.In the first year of Emperor Shun's Yuantong (1332 A.D.), there was a flood in Gyeonggi, and more than 400,000 people were hungry.In the second year, there was a great famine in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and there were more than 590,000 starving households.The heavier the exploitation of the landlord class, the harder the life of the peasants.The faster the landlords annexed the land, the more peasants had to resist and flee.The greater the number of abandoned fields, the lower the grain output; the greater the number and area of ​​famines, the more acute the class contradictions, reaching the point of irreconcilability, and peasant revolutionary wars broke out one after another.

In order to alleviate class conflicts, the Yuan Dynasty government also used methods such as reducing taxes, providing relief, setting up Changping warehouses, and dispatching agricultural officials.However, tax exemptions only apply to landlords and self-cultivating farmers, and tenants still have to pay rent to landlords.As for the relief, the tenants still couldn't get their turn.Even in the fourth year of Zhiyuan (AD 1344), there was a severe famine in the north and south of Henan, and a severe epidemic in the second year, in which 50% of 10 people died. Later, I heard that there was still a few percent of the harvest, so there was no relief.Swallowed up the money.It's normal to close the position.There is no rice in the warehouse.Even if there is rice, it still falls into the hands of high officials and landlords, and cannot be distributed to farmers.As for the establishment of persuading farmers.There is no other meaning except to set up a few more exploitative and plundering bureaucrats.

In addition to the class oppression of the Mongolian and Han landlord classes, there is also the ethnic oppression of the Han and Nan people by the Mongols and Semu people.In order to facilitate the consolidation of military rule, Mongolian Semu aristocrats will forever exploit and enslave the poor people, mainly Han people, and divide society into four classes: Mongolians are the most expensive, Semu people are second, Han people are third, and southerners are the lowest.The Mongolian military aristocrats had already conquered the countries of Khwarizm in Central Asia before they destroyed the gold. They collectively referred to the surrendered population of these countries as the Semu people, who were used to oppress the Han people who were later conquered.The Han people refer to the Han people under the rule of the Jin Dynasty and the Jurchen, Goryeo, Khitan and other ethnic groups; the Southern people refer to the people of various ethnic groups who were finally conquered under the rule of the Song Dynasty, with the Han people as the main body.In order to divide the unity of the Han people, the Mongolian ruling class gave some small political advantages to the northern Han landlords, which were clearly different from the southerners.The rights and obligations of the fourth class are extremely unequal, and the control of Hannan civilians is the strictest.He also referred to the Han people as Hanzi and the southerners as barbarians.At the same time, the poor herdsmen among the Mongolian ethnic groups, like the poor peasants among the Hannan people, were forced to prepare their own horses and weapons to serve as soldiers, and were exploited by the ruling class viciously.

It should be pointed out that inter-ethnic oppression is formal, and it is the oppression of ordinary people who have no political status.In essence, the joint regime of the Mongolian, Semu, Han, and Southern landlord classes exploited, plundered, and enslaved poor people of all ethnic groups without exception. In the final analysis, it was still class oppression in essence.In the war against Jin and Song Dynasty, the Mongol rulers not only captured the city and slaughtered a large number of people, but also plundered the population.Mongolian, Semu, Han, and southern officials also forcibly occupied households as slaves.Shangdu (now Duolun County, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) and Dadu set up a horse market, a cattle market, a sheep market, and a human market, and people and animals were also traded.The trend of human trafficking in the south of the Yangtze River is even more prevalent.Fearing that the slaves would run away, the masters would drink dumb medicine or burn their feet with fire, making them behave like animals.Slaves and slaves have the same treatment in law. The actual difference is that people captured before the army are called slaves, and those who plunder and sell people are called exorcists.Qu Ding pays a tax of one stone per year to the imperial court, and bears the obligations of farming, service, paying tribute to the master, and performing military service on behalf of the master.For example, General Ali Haiya broke Hunan and confiscated 3,800 households of the surrendered people as domestic slaves.In the early 14th century, bureaucratic landlords in the south of the Yangtze River forcibly seized households and made them slaves.Mongolian soldiers and civilians living in poverty were also forced to sell their wives and sons as slaves.Official and private slaves in the Yuan Dynasty accounted for a large proportion of the total population.The larger the number of slaves, the smaller the number of tenants would be. This not only hindered the development of production, but also harmed the interests of the small and medium-sized landlords of all ethnic groups and caused internal contradictions in the ruling class.

Southerners have always been excluded from the circle of the central political leadership.The military power is not allowed to be controlled by the Han people. Although the Han people also serve as military and political officials, they cannot learn about military affairs, participate in secrets, register for military parades, or know the number of soldiers.Provincial governors are generally Mongols, followed by Semu Shichen, and Semu and Han people are the only ones who lack officials.The local officials use Han people as the chief managers, and Semu people as the co-prefects, but it is the Mongolian supervisor Dalu Huachi who is in charge of the real power.The palace guards only use Mongolian Semu people, and Han people and southerners are not allowed to vote.The children of Mongolian aristocrats came from the palace guards and became officials, and they were promoted quickly.Han and Nan people can only come from imperial examinations or schools.There are also ethnic differences in the imperial examinations. Mongolians and Semu people make one list, Han people from southern China make one list, Mongolians and Semu people take two exams, and Han and Nan people have to take three exams; It is difficult, but it is just the opposite for those who are qualified to be appointed officials. Mongolian and Semu people are higher than Hannan people.The number of students in national schools is also based on race. Guozijian has 50 Mongolian students, 20 Semu students, and 30 Han students.The examination is lenient for Mongolian students, slightly stricter for Semu students, and the most content for Han students.After graduation, the Mongolian students are awarded the sixth rank, the Semu students are the seventh rank, and the Han people are the seventh rank.

The shading and promotion levels of civil and military officials have also stipulated preferential treatment for Mongolian and Semu people.Mongolia is higher than Semu, and Semu is higher than Han and Nan people.As for the punishment of officials, the decree stipulates that Semu people and Han people who are not diligent in their duties will be sentenced to death and their homes will be ransacked, with the exception of Mongolians. In addition to the unequal political status, the Yuan Dynasty government also specially formulated laws to oppress the Han nationality to protect and consolidate its ruling power.In the second year of Yuantong (AD 1334), Emperor Shun ordered Mongolian nobles and Semu people to commit treachery, robbery and forgery, to be dealt with by Dazong Zhengfu, an authority in charge of Mongolian nobles, and those who violated the law by Han and Southerners were sentenced by ordinary courts.Mongol officials who commit statutory crimes must be sentenced and imprisoned by the Mongols.Mongolian nobles and Semu people are not only protected by special courts, but also in case of major criminal cases, the final ruling power belongs to the Mongolian Minister, which is an additional layer of protection.When the Mongols killed the Han people, they were only sentenced to serve as soldiers and fined for burning and burying silver.When the Mongolian personnel beat the Han people, they were not allowed to fight back. They could only designate witnesses to go to the government to file a complaint.Conversely, if the Han people killed or beat the Mongols, they would be punished severely.And prohibit the Han people from gathering and fighting with the Mongols.Han and Nan people have to tattoo their faces when committing the crime of theft, while Mongolians and Semu people are exempt from tattooing.

Use military force to control order and suppress uprisings in Han and Nanren areas.The method is to disarm the Han and Nan people; the imperial court divides troops to garrison various places; and establishes the society armor system.From the thirteenth year of Yuan Shizu to Yuan Dynasty (AD 1276), after the Yuan army entered Lin'an (now Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province), it ordered the confiscation of civilian weapons.In the army, the southerners were not allowed to have a stick of iron or stick in their hands.All households with iron rulers, hand sticks, and hidden blades of sticks must hand over to officials.There is a detaining officer with a horse.Those who hid the Jiazhan privately were executed.The worst civilian weapons were destroyed, the better ones were given to the Semu people, and the best ones were returned to the arsenal for the Mongols.The weapons used by the Han people when they went out to war were handed over to officials after the battle, and the non-wartime armies of the Han and Southern people in the army were completely disarmed.Even Han generals were not allowed to hold weapons without special permission.In order to meet the needs of catching thieves, the bows and arrows used by various roads, prefectures, prefectures, and counties are strictly limited to ten pairs for each road, seven for the prefecture, and five for the county.Han people are not allowed to hunt.Han people are not allowed to learn martial arts.The Han people are not allowed to gather in the temples to pray, pray to the shrines, and sell in the market.Even learning Mongolian and Semu characters is not allowed. The garrison (zhen garrison) army is mainly composed of the Mongolian Army and the Tanma Red Army (the armies of various tribes in Semu), divided into Tunhe, Luo, and Shandong. In the South China Sea, the Mongolian Zongwang is the general.The Mongolian army lives in the camp, and other troops change defenses on time, and there is a certain system.There are sixty-three garrisons in the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, and the garrison areas have not changed for decades.The Mongolian and Han landlord governments used the Mongolian army to suppress the Han people in the Jin area north of the Huai River, and used various tribal armies, supplemented by the Han army and the Song's surrendered troops, to suppress the southerners in the Huai River and the Song land south of the Yangtze River. They used ethnic conflicts to implement military control, and used The power of the army is used to maintain the ruling authority and strengthen class oppression and national oppression.The greater the suspicion among nations, the deeper the hatred. The Shejia system combined with the garrison was the grassroots organization of the Mongolian and Han landlord ruling institutions.Before the extermination of the Song Dynasty, Yuan Shizu ordered the villages of the counties to form a commune in the 7th year of the Yuan Dynasty. Every fifty families should be established as a commune. The family and the nearby village are combined into one community.The society was originally a form of organization voluntarily united by poor peasants in order to resist feudal oppression. The rulers of the past dynasties have repeatedly banned it. This organization urges farmers to work hard to achieve the goal of increasing taxation and facilitating governance.The government of the Yuan Dynasty inherited this system for the purpose of strengthening its rule and search. However, with this organization, it also gave the peasants a legal form of secret organization to resist class oppression, and made the peasants generally organized. A powerful resistance.Three years later, in order to facilitate the monitoring of the Han people, the Tanma Red Army was ordered to join the society and organize the people everywhere.Although the Mongolian Semu people have the right to live anywhere, the Mongolian army does not form a society with the Han households.This is the case in the northern regions.After the annihilation of the Song Dynasty, 20 households of the southern people were organized into Jiajia, and the Mongols were the masters of Jiajia.Armors were made everywhere in urban and rural areas, and armor masters ruined and plundered the wives and daughters of civilians, and no one dared to speak.People are even prohibited from passing at night, using the bell as a sign. When the bell stops at three o'clock on the first watch, no pedestrians are allowed to go.Offenders can be whipped twenty-seven times.Only before the ban on the clock and after the dawn of the clock, are the merchants allowed to light lamps for business, and ordinary people to light lamps to study and work.Although this is only the initial situation after the destruction of the Song Dynasty, the cruel impression it left on the southern people is unforgettable for generations.In the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian-Han landlord class carried out brutal plundering of the peasants through the head of the company, Jiazhu. With the exorbitant donations of various names, after the middle of the Yuan Dynasty, the number of land taxes collected each year increased to 20 compared with the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. more than double.As a result, the national agricultural production has declined, and the majority of farmers have fallen into the abyss of bankruptcy. Judging from the household registration figures recorded in official documents, the household registration of the Song Dynasty was 12.67 million in the 16th year of Jiading (1223 A.D.) and the population was 28.32 million.Jin's household registration, in the seventh year of Taihe (1207 AD), the number of households was 7,684,000, and the population was 45,810,000.The two countries have a total of about 20 million households and a population of about 74 million.Of course, this number does not include the household registration number of Mongolian Semu.However, by the eighteenth year of Yuan Shizu to Yuan Dynasty (1281 A.D.), the total number of households in the country was only 13.2 million, and the population was 58.83 million. This number should include Mongolian people. including the number of accounts.Comparing the two figures, it can be seen that the result of the long-term war damage is that the number of households has decreased by about 7 million, and the number of people has decreased by about 15 million.By the first year of Wenzong Zhishun (AD 1330), the number of households in the country was still 13.4 million, which was similar to the figure in the eighteenth year of Zhiyuan. After fifty years, the number of households remained at the same level. On the original basis, although the household registration figures in official documents in the past are very unreliable, a comparison of these many figures can also explain the loss of household registration and slave occupation in the past fifty years. This is class oppression and national oppression. tragic outcome. The intensification of internal contradictions and political corruption of the Mongolian ruling class were the internal causes of the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty government. The Mongolian Khanate was successfully organized by several khanates divided by the descendants of Genghis Khan, with the court of the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty as the center.Since Kublai Khan (the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty) destroyed the Mongolian custom of holding a general assembly to elect the Khan, and adopted the Han feudal system to establish the eldest son as the crown prince, the struggle for succession of the throne caused the deepening of the contradictions among the Mongolian nobles, coups, civil strife, One after another, the ruling power of the Yuan Dynasty government was weakened, and the political situation was often unstable. In fact, the division of the Mongolian Great Khanate was before Yuan Shizu came to the throne.The Mongols are accustomed to nomadic life, moving with water and grass all year round, without a fixed residence, and without a city to guard them.If there is no strong and powerful military leader who is good at commanding operations, when suddenly attacked by a powerful enemy, it will collapse out of control.For many generations, in the tribal social organization of Mongolia, all matters concerning the election and dismissal of the common chief of the tribes, wars against other tribes, and dealing with severe natural disasters and migrations have been decided by the general assembly of the tribe members. Ertai to solve.The former Great Khan has the right to nominate a successor, but the General Assembly can also choose another person.Therefore, the military leader with the strongest military power in each ethnic group also has the greatest power to decide the election.When there is a disagreement and the military strength of the two insisting parties is equal, each will inevitably recognize a Great Khan, resulting in a split and even a solution by force, falling into a situation of long-term civil war.Since Genghis Khan, the elections of all Khans have been manipulated by several powerful military groups, resulting in civil wars.As a result of the long-term civil war, the Mongolian Khanate collapsed, and Yuan Shizu and his descendants directly ruled only this part of China. The succession of the throne of the Yuan Dynasty after Yuan Shizu was not a court conspiracy, but a battle for military power nobles, and the approval of the general meeting was nothing more than a routine article.During the 40 years from the death of Yuan Shizu to the establishment of Emperor Yuanshun (1294｜1333), nine emperors changed, and coups broke out every four or five years, especially from 1328. By 1333, six emperors had been changed in six years. The contradictions within the upper class of the Mongolian aristocracy had deepened and intensified. It will be further weakened; the weaker the power of the dynasty, the more important the local power will be. On the one hand, the ruling class fights for power and profit, and kills each other, and on the other hand, the ruling class is shameless, depraved and corrupt. After Yuan Shizu destroyed the Song Dynasty, in order to accumulate more wealth, he launched many overseas wars of aggression.In the 19th year of the Yuan Dynasty, 100,000 troops were sent to attack Japan, but they were defeated by a hurricane and returned.Three more times to attack Annan (AD 1284｜1294), twice to attack Myanmar (AD 12821287), and to attack Champa (AD 12821284). year), fought against Java (AD 1292), the more defeated the battle, the more unconvinced.The burden of military expenditure is increasing day by day, and financial difficulties arise, so a group of businessmen who are good at scraping money have to be appointed as ministers, who specialize in collecting wealth, increasing taxes, selling officials and nobles, and exploiting the people, resulting in a political climate of corruption. In addition to the huge military expenditure, there are also huge yearly rewards (regular rewards), special rewards (additional rewards), court rewards, and rewards after the Kuliertai Conference for the kings and nobles.One hundred ingots of silver (fifty taels are ingots), five thousand and ninety-eight bolts of silk, three hundred bolts of satin, one hundred and twenty ingots of banknotes, and five hundred pieces of sheepskin were given at the age of one year. Sixteen ingots of gold and forty-five taels; a special gift such as the fourth year of Zhongtong (1263 A.D.) to Princess Cuba with 50,000 taels of silver; The ancestral throne gave 1,000 taels of gold and 75,000 taels of silver, and the throne of the ancestors gave 500 taels of gold each, and 25,000 taels of silver. The descendants of Genghis Khan spread across Europe and Asia. How old is it?Although the Kuliertai Conference is a formality, in order to repay the support of the kings and nobles, the number of rewards is even more astonishing. For example, in the fourth year of Zhida (AD 1311), the total number of rewards after Renzong ascended the throne was 39,500 gold Fifty taels, 1,849,500 taels of silver, 203,279 ingots of banknotes, and 472,488 pieces of silk.This year's extra reward is more than three million ingots.It is often not enough to hold a general meeting and give up all the treasury in Shangdu.These rewards of different names were essentially bribes paid to win the support of the kings and nobles, and the source was the wealth created by the hard work of the Han and Southern people.In addition, there are a lot of expenses for supporting monks, because they want to use religion to anesthetize the people. The Yuan Dynasty protected all kinds of religions. The emperors of all dynasties believed in Buddhism. worship.The inner court performed Buddhist ceremonies more than 500 times a year at most.Various temples do Buddhist work, and some use 10,000 sheep every day.According to statistics from the third year of Zhida (AD 1310), the Yuan Dynasty government spent a large proportion of its funds on monasteries.From the fiscal revenue and expenditure situation in the first four years, about 20 million ingots were issued annually, but only 4 million ingots were collected in the regular tax, of which only 2.8 million ingots were handed over to Dadu.The deficit was more than seven times the annual income.In November of this year, the cash in the treasury was only 110,000 ingots.The way to make up for the deficit is to sell salt in advance, increase taxes and taxes, and even use banknotes (reserves and silver for issuing banknotes).In the second year of Zhishun (AD 1331), there was a deficit of 2.4 million ingots in the financial year-on-year.The banknote law in the early years of the Yuan Dynasty originally had a fairly complete system. There was a fixed amount of issuance, which could be redeemed for cash at any time, and had a certain ratio to the price.When the finances were helpless, all the banknotes were used up and turned into irreversible banknotes. In addition to unlimited issuance, the more they were issued, the lower the value of the currency, and the higher the relative price. The banknotes transported by ship to the front line were not even worth a single penny. The banknotes lost their effectiveness, and the people had to barter. The imperial finances and the national economy were on the verge of collapse. The political situation also fits the economics.Since Emperor Wuzong of the Yuan Dynasty, employing people doesn't care about their talents, as long as they get the emperor's favor, they can become high officials. There are people who have nothing to do, such as Zhongshu Zuocheng, Pingzhang, and participating in politics; there are also many state officials, Situ, and prime ministers. .The kings and nobles killed people casually, and recommended people to be officials casually.Landlords and powerful people who break the law should be killed, as long as they bribe the emperor and the state teacher, they can get the emperor's amnesty.Later, he simply sold his official position and bribed the public.The corruption of local officials was typicalized by Ye Ziqi, a native of Zhejiang in the late Yuan Dynasty. He said that officials in Mongolia and Semu did not know about shame. If you have money for a visit, you need to withdraw money for nothing, save money for festivals, birthday money for birthdays, routine money for business affairs, favor money for sending and receiving favors, money for subpoenas and warrants, and business money for lawsuits.Getting more money is said to be a success, except for Meizhou County (fat vacancy), which is said to be a good land distribution, and to make up for jobs is almost a good nest.Even inspectors can be bought with money, and those who pay more will be in short supply.Su Zhenglian visits officials to inspect prefectures and counties, each with treasuries (officials in charge of money), inspecting banknotes and weighing silver, arguing more and discussing less, just like doing business.Big officials eat small officials, and small officials eat common people.There is a folk poem that ridicules the official way: one gold and one drum to solve a thief, two drums and one gong to welcome officials, the golden drums look the same, and officials and thieves do not compete for more.The local officials exploited the people too viciously. The Yuan Dynasty government was afraid that the people would rebel and cause civil uprisings, and sometimes sent officials to various places to appease the people in an attempt to ease the contradictions between the officials and the people.When Xuanfu first came out of Beijing, the local officials were greatly shocked. Who would have thought that after arriving in the place, they would still ask for money and bribes, and they would protect each other with the local officials.The people also made up a few jingles for them: When the envoy came, it was earth-shattering, and when the envoy left, it was dark and the officials were happy, but the people were crying.He also said: "Officials' black patent leather lanterns are added when envoys come." , The Ninefold Danzhao issued the favor, and ten thousand taels of gold were envoyed back. , Received envoys to proclaim and appease, ask the people about their sufferings, come like thunder, go like defeated drums.The common people in Wenzhou and Taizhou set up flags beside the villages, which read: The sky is high, the emperor is far away, the people are few and the people are many, fight three times a day, no matter what!If the common people do not rebel, they will not be able to survive. After the Song Dynasty was destroyed, the army was stationed in the prosperous cities in the interior. After a long time, life became corrupt, and they forgot how to fight and were unwilling to fight.Most of the military officers are the children of hereditary aristocrats, who know how to eat, drink, and play. They can lose their temper, embezzle military rations, enslave and abuse soldiers, and even rob people; they just don’t know how to fight.The main military force in the early days of Mongolia, the descendants of the brave and strong, has completely deteriorated and lost its combat power.In the first year of Zhengzheng (1341 A.D.), there were more than 300 bandits in Shandong, and in seven years they spread to Jining, Teng, Pi, Xuzhou and other places.Linqing, Guangping, and Luanhe in Kinki were also robbed everywhere.From Zhizheng in Henan, thieves came in and out frequently in the seventh year, and in Fujian, Haining Prefecture, Shuyang and other places in the eighth year.Even the canal that transports millions of grains to Dadu every year was blocked by cavalry robbers. In March of the sixth year, forty cavalry robbers robbed 300 ships, and the Yuan army did not dare to arrest them.In November of the seventh year of Zhengzheng, the pirates robbed Jiangyin, Tong, Tai, Zhenjiang and Zhenzhou along the river. There were only 36 pirates.Tongzhou is to the east of Dadu, and in the seventh year of Zhengzheng, thieves flocked.There were thieves in Gyeonggi from the third year of Zhiyuan to the sixth year of Zhizheng.Even Dadu, the military center, was full of bandits in the second year of Zhizheng.The tools used by the Mongol and Semu ruling classes to oppress the Hannan people are rotten, and they can no longer withstand the thunderous blows of the Red Army. Class oppression, ethnic oppression, layer upon layer on the people of the Han and southern ethnic groups, the heavier the oppression, the greater the resistance of the Han and southern people.The toiling people of all ethnic groups in Han and Southern China are opposed to class oppression and national oppression, and they must use resistance to lift this oppression, armed struggle, and successive. The resistance of the southerners has never stopped.From the epic battle of Yashan, after Zhang Shijie and Lu Xiufu's heroic sacrifices, they rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty and failed several times. Wen Tianxiang, who never returned, was finally killed in Dadu in December of the 19th year of the Zhiyuan Dynasty. The righteousness of the nation has moved and called on people of all ethnic groups and future generations.In the second year after Wen Tianxiang's death, Huang Hua, the general manager of Jianning Road, revolted and used Song Xiangxing's reign name.In the 23rd year of the Yuan Dynasty, Monk Zhao Xichuan claimed to be Prince Song Fu and started an uprising in Guangzhou.In the third year of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1337), Master Han, a citizen of Dazu County in Hezhou, raised his troops and claimed to be the King of Zhao in the Southern Dynasty. They all used the restoration of Zhao Song as a call.In addition, such as the Luoping State in Guangzhou in the 20th year of the Yuan Dynasty, the peasant riots in Zhang, Yong, Bin, Wu, Shao, and Heng states (Fujian, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hunan), and the Yongkang in Wuzhou (now Jinhua, Zhejiang) in the 23rd year. The uprising of the county citizen Chen Xunsi, Guangdong and Zhejiang in the 25th year, Jiangxi in the 27th year, the riots in Ganzhou in the second year of Chengzong Yuanzhen, and the Dajin uprising in Guangzhou in the third year of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1337) , are records of the heroic struggle of the people of all ethnic groups in the South.In the eighth year of Zhizheng (AD 1348), the Han people also revolted. Suohuonu in Liaodong and Wuyan Boluhuan in Liaoyang both claimed to be descendants of the Great Gold and rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty.At the same time, the impoverished people of all ethnic groups in various regions also revolted one after another, which played a huge role in weakening the military power of the Yuan Dynasty and disintegrating the regime of the ruling class of the Yuan Dynasty.During the 20 years from the fourth year of Zhishun to the fourteenth year of Zhizheng (AD 13331354), the Yao people in Hunan and Guangxi continued to revolt and captured Daozhou (now Daoxian County, Hunan Province) and Hezhou successively. (now Hexian, Guangxi), Lianzhou (now Lianxian, Guangdong), Guizhou (now Guilin, Guangxi), Jingzhou (now Jingxian, Hunan), Xunzhou (now Guiping, Guangxi), Wugang (now Wugang, Hunan), Yuanzhou (now Zhijiang, Hunan), Qianyang (now Qianyang, Hunan): Baoqing (now Shaoyang, Hunan), Quanzhou (now Quanzhou, Guangxi), Chenzhou (now Yuanling, Hunan), Hengzhou (now Hengyang, Hunan), etc. land.Wu Tianbao, the leader of the Yao nationality in Jingzhou, from the sixth to the ninth year of Zhizheng, captured Wugang four times in four years and attacked Yuanzhou five times in four years, greatly killing and wounding the military power of the Yuan Dynasty.From the first year of Zhiyuan to the fourteenth year of Zhengzheng (AD 13351354), the Xifan tribe in the northwest raised troops everywhere to block the post road in Lingbei. Conquered Hara Huozhou (east of Turpan City, Xinjiang, now known as Hara Hezhuo).Wuzhe Yeren and Shui Dada in Liaoyang in the northeast also rebelled in the sixth year of Zhizheng.The front fell, and the ones behind followed. One or two fell, and hundreds and thousands got up.Although the causes of these many resistance movements are not exactly the same, they have only one goal, which is to lift class oppression and national oppression.Although the Han and Southerners were also oppressed and enslaved, the main powerful military force of the Yuan Dynasty was used to control the inner region centered on Dadu, and the military control force in the Jiangnan area was relatively weak. Therefore, Armed uprisings by people of various ethnic groups in the South may break out one after another.By the time the military power of the Yuan Dynasty was weakened by numerous uprisings, the Han people might also start an uprising.Coupled with the ubiquity of thieves in the inner region, the Yuan Dynasty's military forces were scattered and lost the ability to fully control and suppress them. The conditions for a full-scale uprising were ripe. The Red Army uprising in the eleventh year was the continuation and development of this series of resistance movements. The fuse of the Red Army Uprising was the intensified oppression and discrimination against the Hannan people by the Mongolian and Han ruling classes. 元順帝（妥懽帖木兒）以親王的身份從廣西進京作皇帝，河南行省平章伯顏率領部下蒙古援軍護送。太師燕帖木兒殺了元順帝的父親明宗，順帝做了皇帝，他心懷疑懼，溺於酒色而死。伯顏升為丞相。伯顏仗著功勞大，獨擅朝權，貪汙舞弊。弟侄都做了大官。他又仇恨漢人，反對蒙古人讀漢人書，告訴元順帝說：陛下有太子，休教讀漢人書，解人。又其間好生欺負人，往時，我行，有把馬者久不見，問之曰往應科舉未回。我不料科舉都是這等人，得了！就這樣，把至元元年禮部科舉停止了。更恨南人，為的是南人經常作反。養著一個西番師婆叫畀畀，常問她來年好歹，自己身後事如何？畀畀說當死於南人之手，因之益發忌恨。下令漢、南人不得持軍器，凡有馬的都拘收入官。至元三年（公元一三三七年）河南棒胡起義於汝寧信陽州。朱光卿、石昆山在廣南惠州起義，李智甫、羅天麟在漳州起義，至元四年彭瑩玉、周子旺在袁州起義，十一月河南趙孟端起義，伯顏益發氣忿，說造反的全是漢人。漢人有在朝廷做官的，要提出誅捕造反漢人的辦法，表明心跡。接著又荒唐地主張殺張、王、劉、李、趙五姓的漢、南人，因為這五姓人數最多，漢、南人殺了大半，自然造不了反了。五年四月又重申漢、南人執持軍器的禁令，還頒佈一條法令，蒙古、色目人毆打漢、南人，漢、南人只許挨打，不許還手。伯顏又和元順帝發生矛盾，和皇太后計較，要把順帝廢掉。這話被伯顏的侄兒御史大夫脫脫知道了，脫脫暗地裏告訴順帝，作了準備，趁伯顏出城打獵，收回兵權，關上城門，貶伯顏外地安置，伯顏進退不得，只好自殺。伯顏的兄弟馬劄兒台繼為丞相，又下令禁民間藏兵器。脫脫嫌他父親擋住自己當權，勸他辭位，自己做了丞相。紅軍起義消息報到大都，中書省官員把報告加標題謀反事，脫脫看了，改題作河南漢人謀反事，把河南全部漢人都算作起義軍了。伯顏、脫脫一家人接著做首相，這一系列仇視敵視漢、南人的政策，反映了蒙古統治階級上層的脆弱和無知，這些瘋狂的絕望的鎮壓措施，逼使漢、南人進一步團結起來，組織起來，逼使漢、南人非用武力反抗，非用自己的力量來解除階級壓迫、民族壓迫不可，除此以外，是沒有別的出路的。在這樣緊張、對立的情況下，有人登高一呼，自然全國響應了。 至正三年五月，黃河在白茅口決口。四年五月大雨二十多天，黃河水暴溢，平地水深二丈，北決白茅堤，六月又北決金堤，曹、濮、濟、兗諸州都遭了水災，不但農田民居被淹，連鹽場也極為危險，皇朝稅收遭受很大損失。有人建議堵口，脫脫派人勘察，回來報告說河工太大，開工有困難，而且河南一帶遍處都有農民起義隊伍，要開工，便要集合幾十萬河工，萬一和起義軍結合起來，無法收拾。脫脫不聽，決意動工，派賈魯為工部尚書兼河防使。至正十一年四月二十二日，發汴梁大名十三路民夫十五萬，廬州等地戍軍二萬興工，從黃陵岡南到白茅口，西到陽青村，開河二百八十里，把黃河勒回舊道。韓山童得了消息，叫人四處散佈童謠說：石人一隻眼，挑動黃河天下反。暗地鑿了一個石人，臉上只有一隻眼睛，偷偷埋在黃陵岡當挖處。元朝政府發的河工經費，被修河官照例貪汙，河工不能按時按數拿到錢，吃不飽，正在怨恨。韓山童又打發幾百個教徒去做挑河夫，宣傳天下要大亂了，彌勒佛已經降生了，明王已經出世了，傳來傳去，不上幾天工夫，河南、江淮一帶的農民全知道了。韓山童和親信劉福通、杜遵道商量，農民是起來了，還得念書的作官的一起來幹，力量就更大。至少也要做到讓念書的作官的同情反元，不站在敵人方面去。劉福通說過去許多農民起義隊伍都打著趙宋的旗子，我們的祖先都是宋朝的老百姓，只要提出復宋的旗號，說得切實些，念書的做官的不會不支持。韓山童很贊成，就接著這個意思做了部署。有一天，挑河夫挖到黃陵岡的一段，果然在一棵樹下挖出一隻眼的石人，一嚷嚷，看的人越來越多，幾萬挑河夫擠得水泄不通，駭得目瞪口呆，再加上韓山童派的教徒的鼓動，一霎時鬧翻了天，人人口中念佛，三個一堆，五個一群，紛紛議論，大家心裏明白，這是一個信號，要出頭了，翻身的日子到了，是動手的時候了。 韓山童聚集了三千人在白鹿莊，斬白馬烏牛，祭告天地，宣稱韓山童是宋徽宗的第八代孫子，當為中國主。劉福通是宋朝大將劉光世的後人，該輔佐舊主起義，恢復天下。大家齊心推奉韓山童為明王，克定日子起兵。四處派人通知，同時發動，以頭裹紅巾為記號。正在歃血立誓，分配任務，舉杯慶祝，興高采烈的時候，不料消息走漏了，永年縣的縣官帶領馬快弓手，冷不防團團圍住白鹿莊，韓山童脫身不及，被擒去殺了。山童妻楊氏帶著兒子林兒趁著慌亂，逃出重圍，躲入武安山中，隱姓埋名，等候外邊消息。劉福通苦戰逃出，事已如此，等不得預定的起義日子，整頓了隊伍，出敵人不意，攻佔潁州、羅山、上蔡、正陽、霍山，分兵取舞陽、葉縣等處。黃陵岡的挑河夫得到信號，呐喊一聲，殺了監工的河官，頭上包了紅巾，漫山遍野一片紅，一股紅流和主力部隊會合在一起，不上十天，紅軍已經是五六萬人的大部隊了。兩淮、江東西的貧困農民、工匠、小商小販、城市遊民，已經等待了多少年月，這時晝夜不停地趕來入伍，到了隊伍就像到了自己家裏一樣。紅軍聲勢一天比一天浩大，佔領了汝寧、光、息，得到大量糧食，部隊發展到幾十萬人。各地紅軍聞風響應，半個中國照耀著紅光。各別攻城占地，開倉庫，救窮人，建立政權，嚴守教規，不殺平民，不姦淫，不搶劫，越發得到廣大人民擁護。當時民間流傳著一闋醉太平小令，也不知道是誰寫的，從大都一直到江南，到處唱著，詞道； 堂堂大元，奸佞當權，開河變鈔禍根源，惹紅巾萬千。官法濫，刑法重，黎民怨。人吃人，鈔買鈔，何曾見？賊做官，官做賊，混賢愚，哀哉可憐！ 另一首流傳的歌謠： 天遣魔軍殺不平（不公平的人），不平人（被不公年對待的人）殺不平人（不公平的人），不平人（被不公平對待的人）殺不平者（不公平的人），殺盡不平（不公平的人）方太平。 魔軍指的是紅軍，紅軍信奉明教，明教在教外被稱為魔教，他的軍隊當然是魔軍了。 朱元璋在寺裏接連不斷得到外邊的消息，前些日子紅軍占了襄陽，元兵死了多少；另一支占了南康，元兵不戰而逃；芝麻李，趙社長八個人打扮成挑河夫，一晚上占了徐州。說的人津津有味，聽的人心花怒放。紅軍檄文指斥元朝罪狀，最精采最打進人心坎裏的話是貧極江南，富誇塞北。想著可不是種莊稼的一年到頭勞碌辛苦，收了糧食，卻吃草根樹皮！什麼好東西，糧食布帛，珍寶財富，都給括空了運到北邊！種莊稼的為什麼窮？為什麼苦？一輩輩受熬煎呢？從他記得事情起，祖父是怎麼過日子的，父母和哥哥是怎樣死的，以前只怪窮人命苦，這兩句話卻明確指出窮、苦，輩輩子受熬煎的原因，敵人是誰，現在明白了。如要活命，就得改變這個局面，把吃人的朝廷推翻。隔幾日，又聽說徐壽輝已在蘄水建都，作了皇帝，國號天完，年號治平，拜鄒普勝作太師，彭和尚、項奴兒帶的一支軍隊已進了江西。元兵到處打敗仗，好容易調了六千回回阿速軍和幾支漢軍來進攻潁上紅軍，阿速軍素號精悍，擅長騎射，只是紀律不好，到處搶劫。幾個將軍喝酒玩女人，昏頭昏腦，剛和紅軍對陣，望見紅軍陣勢大，嚇得直發抖，主將急急揚鞭勒馬往後跑，嘴裏連叫阿卜！阿卜！阿卜是走的意思，全軍立刻退卻，紅軍往前直衝，元兵一敗塗地。淮東西人把這一仗當做笑話，無人不曉。又聽說脫脫調其弟御史大夫也先帖木兒為知樞密院事，統三十萬大軍收復汝寧，一支前鋒部隊幾萬人屯在汝寧沙河岸邊，將軍們白天黑夜沉溺酒色，都醉倒了，紅軍黑夜偷營，元軍大敗，大將也不見了，第二天在死人堆裏找到屍首。元兵一潰退就是幾百里。也先帖木兒親自統軍，才到汝寧城下，尚未交鋒，見紅軍勢盛，便躍馬後退，地方官急了，挽住馬韁不放，也先帖木兒更急，拔刀便斫，叫道：我的不是性命！飛馬先逃，三十萬大軍跟著潰散，軍資器械，掃數丟光。也先帖木兒只剩下萬把人，踉踉蹌蹌溜回大都，仗著哥哥是丞相，不但沒有罪責，還依舊做御史大夫。蒙古、色目、漢軍都不能打仗了，一上陣就垮，真正和紅軍拼你死我活的是各地方官和大地主們募集的義兵和民兵，地方官怕被紅軍殺害，大地主要保家產，又怕農民報仇，出大價錢雇了城鄉遊民和鹽丁，拼死頑抗，到底力量少，兵力又分散，面對著聲勢浩大的到處蜂起的紅軍，怎麼也抗不住。義兵民兵為了和紅軍作對，穿戴著朝廷規定的服裝，一色的青衣青帽，也叫青軍。到十二年二月底，又聽說濠州也給紅軍占了，頭目是郭子興、孫德崖，和姓俞、姓曾、姓潘的一夥人。 郭子興是定遠縣（今安徽定遠）有名的土豪，原是曹州（今山東曹縣）人。他父親到定遠賣卦相命，有一家地主的瞎女兒，嫁不出去，他父親娶了，得了一份財產，生下三個兒子，子興是老二。兄弟幾個都會盤算生理，賤時買進，貴時賣出，買田地，開店鋪，一二十年同居然盤剝成地方上數一數二的地主了。只是有一件懊惱事，門戶低微，靠不上大官府，三天兩頭受地方官作踐，地方上派捐款，出民兵錢，供應糧秣，總是頭一戶，連馬快弓手也成天上門要這要那，稍不遂意，就瞪眼睛，拍桌子，好歹得花些錢打發。實在氣忿不過，便入了彌勒教，索性使錢交結賓客，接納江湖好漢，焚香密會，盤算有朝一日，要出這口氣。紅軍大起義以後，鍾離、定遠的農民，背上鋤頭鎬鈀，一哄就會合起萬數來人，地方官平時只會要錢，這時卻一點辦法也沒有了，裝不知道，惹不起，也犯不著多事。二月二十七日，郭子興帶了幾千人，趁黑夜，裏應外合，偷入濠州，半夜裏一聲號炮，闖入州官衙門，殺了州官，在先有過杜遵道的號令，五個頭目都稱濠州節制元帥。元朝將軍徹裏不花遠遠隔濠州城南三十里紮營，怕紅軍厲害，不敢攻城。卻派兵到各村莊騷擾，捉了壯丁，給包上紅布，算是俘虜，向上官報功請賞。老百姓給元兵害苦了，村子裏再也存不住身，呼親喚舊，魚貫入城，濠州聲勢越發壯大。 朱元璋盤算了又盤算，雖然相信彭瑩玉的話，吃人的元朝政府一定可以推翻，窮苦人一定可以翻身，眼下就是出頭的時候了。只有一條路，投奔濠州。但是，又聽人說起，城裏五個元帥各作主張，誰也不服誰，甚不和睦，跟著他們走，怕有風險，去不得。留在寺裏呢，遲早給官軍捆去請賞號，腦袋保不住，留不得。想了又想，委實決斷不下。 一天，有人從濠州捎來一封信，是湯和寫的，他帶了十幾個壯士投奔紅軍，已經積功作到千戶，催他快來入伍。背著人讀了，越發一肚皮心事。在大殿上踱過來，踱過去，以口問心，以心問口，反覆計較。猛然省悟，把信就著長明燈燒了，還是下不了決心。又過了幾天，同房的師兄偷偷告訴他，前日那信有人知道了，要向官軍告發，催他趕緊逃走。元璋急得無法，到村子裏找著剛從外鄉回來的周德興，討一個主意。周德興尋思了好些時候，說只有投奔紅軍才能活命，勸他向菩薩討一個卦，是吉是凶？決定去留。元璋心頭忐忑不定，慢慢踱回寺裏，還不到山門，就嗅到一股煙焰氣味，大吃一驚，飛奔進去，只見東一堆瓦石，西一堆冒煙的樑柱，大殿只剩下半邊，僧房齋堂全燒光了，只剩下伽藍殿，隔著一片空地還完整。滿院子堆著馬糞，破衲衣，爛傢具，僧眾星散，不知去向。冷清清只剩下幾尊搬不動燒不爛的銅菩薩。原來元朝軍隊以為僧寺裏供著彌勒佛，紅軍念彌勒佛號，怕和尚給紅軍作間諜，把附近的寺廟都搶光燒光了，這一天輪到皇覺寺。元璋呆了一陣，知道寺裏再也停留不得了，下定決心到紅軍隊伍裏去。向伽藍神磕了頭，討了卦。二十六年後他寫《皇陵碑》回憶這時候的心情道： 住（皇覺寺）方三載，而又雄者跳樑。初起汝、潁，次及鳳陽之南廂。未幾陷城，深高城隍，拒守不去，號令彰彰。友人寄書，云及趨降，既憂且懼，無可籌詳。旁有覺者，將欲聲揚。當此之際，逼迫而無已，試與知者相商，乃告之日，果束手以待罪，亦奮臂而相戕？知者為我畫計，且默禱以陰相，如其言往卜去守之何祥，神乃陰陰乎有警，其氣鬱鬱乎洋洋，卜逃卜守則不吉，將就凶而不妨。 友人寄信催他參加紅軍，可見他和紅軍是早有聯繫的，既憂且懼的心情也是真實的，決心是下定了，卜卦只是加強了決心。但是他在《皇陵碑》中卻把自己的決心完全歸功於神佛的啟示，表明他的行動是受命於天的，弄神弄鬼，故作玄虛，這一段狡獪騙人的敍述和他一生利用佛道兩教的政治作用是一致的。 第二天，他離開皇覺寺，參加紅軍去了。 這一年，朱元璋二十五歲。