News Article

The Red Turban Army a New Fighter                 By:Nathaniel Etienne                            Yuan Press                        1356 February 4th

DADU -- Zhu Yuanzhang, recently the prideful leader of the Red Turbans, has killed five men. He considered these men his rivals and eliminated them one by one. The most influential of these men was Han Lin'er. He was killed by Zhu to call for a racial revolution for the Han Chinese. This got him a lot of support. This did not help the situation though. The Yuan Empire/Mongol Empire has been in chaos lately from all the failed campaigns and the enraged peasants suffering the tax increase. The Mongols can't seem to keep it together any more. All the continuous bad luck is giving the people the impression that the Mongols have lost the Mandate of Heaven.

    There have been many prior events that led up to this. The Yellow River has constantly been flooding, not to mention all the other natural disasters. The dynasty required considerable military expenditure to maintain its large empire. Since the Han Chinese are the lowest class of the bureaucracy, they have to make up for overspending on failed campaigns and other areas. They taxed our local Han Chinese the hardest. The Red Turban Army was largely influenced by the White Lotus society.  Five years prior, in 1351, the society was planning an armed rebellion, but the plan was put on hold because of the arrest of their leader Han Shantong. His son with the help of Han Lin'er was able to become his father’s successor, and become the proud leader of the newly named Red Turban Army.

During the beginning of the Red Turban Army, there were a lot of acts of violence towards the Mongol government officials. The Army attacked a group of Mongol officials. One man has survived and is recovering from injuries from the beating he got.  His name is Yuan Tao, and he speaks out now about what he thinks of the Red Turban Army. “The attack we received from these men was brutal. The Red Turban Army is weak though, and they are over confident for thinking they can overthrow us.”

A Han Chinese peasant named Han Shin speaks out about what he thinks of the recent tax increase: “I am happy that someone has heard our prayers. We are being supported by these great men, and the death of Han Lin’er has called for a racial revolution by we downtrodden Han Chinese. We are happy to support the Red Turban Army at all costs.” This is what both sides of the empire think. Which side are you on?