ABSTRACT
Militia leader Niu Keng directed his followers to kill, rape, set fires, and robs. They committed every crime in the book, but Niu Keng had influential contacts in the capital and local yamen, so nobody dared make trouble with him. When the villagers all joined the uprising, Niu Keng was inspired to do likewise. He replaced his militia flag with a fivecolor Nien banner, changed his followers' uniforms to farming clothes, and gave each of his men a red turban to wrap around his head. Niu Keng was worried and angered by this response. He ripped up his five-color banner and burned the red turbans. Then after he had thought and thought for one whole night, he finally came up with an idea. The one hundred and fifty young members, chosen from the tenants and full-time laborers, reported to Niu Keng's courtyard every night after dinner.
