war descending
upon the districts they occupied and the cities which fell into their
hands. But where Choo ruled discipline and security prevailed, and as
far as his power reached a firm and orderly government existed.

Meanwhile the Mongols had a host of evils with which to contend. Rebel
leaders had risen in various quarters, some of them making more progress
than Choo, but winning the execration rather than the love of the people
by their rapine and violence. On the contrary, his power grew slowly but
surely, various minor leaders joining him, among them the pirate Fangkue
Chin, whose exploits had made him a hero to the people of the valley of
the Kiang. The events of the war that followed were too many to be here
detailed. Suffice it to say that the difficulties of the Mongol emperor
gradually increased. He was obliged to meet in battle a Mongol pretender
to his throne; Corea rose in arms and destroyed an army sent to subdue
it; and Chahan Timour, Chunti's ablest general, fell victim to an
assassin. Troubles were growing thick around his throne.

In the year 1366, Choo, after vanquishing some leaders who threatened
his position, among them his late pirate ally Fangkue Chin, saw that the
time had arrived for a vigorous effort to expel the foreign rulers, and
set out at the head of his army for a general campaign, at the same time
proclaiming to the people that the period was at hand for throwing off
the Mongol yoke, which for nearly a century had weighed heavily upon
their necks. Three armies left Nanking, two of them being sent to subdue
three of the provinces of the south, a result which was achieved without
a blow, the people everywhere rising and the Mongol garrisons vanishing
from sight,--whether by death or by flight history fails to relate. The
third army, under Suta, Choo's favorite general, marched towards Peking,
the Mongol garrisons, discouraged by their late reverses, retreating as
it advanced.

At length the great Mongol capital was reached. Within its walls reigned
confusion and alarm. Chunti, panic-stricken at the rapid march of his
enemies, could not be induced to fight for his last hold upon the empire
of China, but fled on the night before the assault was made. Suta at
once ordered the city to be taken by storm, and though the Mongol
garrison made a desperate defence, they were cut down to a man, and the
victorious troops entered the Tartar stronghold in triumph. But Suta,
counselled by Choo to mo