ght its
protege into the field at a critical time.

Choo was not long in proving himself "every inch a soldier." Wherever he
fought he was victorious. In a year's time he had under him seven
hundred men of his own enlistment, and was appointed the lieutenant of
his chief. Soon after the latter died, and Choo took his place at the
head of the rebel band. In it enlisted another young man, Suta by name,
who was before many years to become China's greatest general and the
bulwark of a new dynasty.

Choo was now able to prove his powers on a larger scale. One of his
first exploits was the capture of the town of Hoyan, where he manifested
a high order of courage and political wisdom in saving the inhabitants
from rapine by his ill-paid and hungry soldiers. Here was a degree of
self-restraint and power of command which none of the Chinese leaders
had shown, and which seemed to point out Choo as the man destined to win
in the coming struggle for a rejuvenated China.

Meanwhile a rival came into the field who for a time threw Choo's
fortunes into the shade. This was a young man who was offered to the
people as a descendant of the dynasty of the Sungs, the emperors whom
the Mongol invaders had dethroned. His very name proved a centre of
attraction for the people, whose affection for the old royal house was
not dead, and they gathered in multitudes beneath his banner. But his
claim also aroused the fear of the Mongols, and a severe and stubborn
struggle set in, which ended in the overthrow of the youthful Sung and
the seeming restoration of the Mongol authority. Yet in reality the war
had only cleared the way for a far more dangerous adversary than the
defeated claimant of the throne.

Masked by this war, the strength and influence of Choo had steadily
grown, and in 1356 he made a daring and masterly move in the capture of
the city of Nanking, which gave him control of some of the wealthiest
provinces of the land. Here he showed the same moderation as before,
preserving the citizens from plunder and outrage, and proving that his
only purpose was to restore to China her old native government. With
remarkable prudence, skill, and energy he strengthened his position.
"The time has now come to drive the foreigners out of China," he said,
in a proclamation that was scattered far and wide and brought hosts of
the young and daring to his ranks. Elsewhere the so-called Chinese
patriots were no better than brigands, all the horrors of