Tales of the Greenwood in Troubled Times

This is a long historical novel, told in chapters, about peasant rebel armies in central Hunan resisting the Yuan forces at the end of the Yuan dynasty.

In the final years of the Yuan dynasty, Emperor Zhizheng was debauched and tyrannical, ministers fought for power, and officials at every level imposed exorbitant taxes. Corruption was rampant, cruel officials ran amok, and the people could barely survive. Many peasants in central Hunan could no longer endure the Yuan army's brutal rule. They gathered in the mountains and forests, joined forces in righteous rebellion, and raised their banners against the Yuan. The heroine Sun Biyun led her forces against local tyrants and bandits, absorbed nearby outlaw bands, and gradually built a stronghold of several thousand people. Raising the banner of resistance against the Yuan, she commanded tens of thousands of rebel troops across the Heng, Bao, and Tan circuits, fighting the government and Yuan army and capturing cities and territory. Sun Biyun was killed while attacking Hengzhou. Under the leadership of her successors Yi Hua, Liu Shang, Feng Ping, and others, the rebels carried on the struggle, capturing Hengzhou, Yongzhou, Daozhou, and Quanzhou, and persuading the two prefectures of Changning and Leiyang to surrender. This united the rebel forces of central and southern Hunan, making them a force to be reckoned with across the country. The rebel troops led by Yi Hua, Liu Shang, and Feng were first absorbed into Chen Youliang's uprising, and later submitted to Li Yuanzhang's Ming regime. After Liu Shang, Feng Ping, and the other generals joined forces with rebel armies from across the region to overthrow the Yuan and secure the Ming dynasty's rule, they did not cling to wealth and power. They resigned from office and returned to farming, earning the people's admiration. The people built shrines and temples in their honor, and some historical sites still remain today.