宗教能最快凝聚农民的共识
一、当元朝命令沿岸十七万劳工修河堤时，各级的官吏也异常兴奋。首先，皇帝拨给的修河工钱是可以克扣的，民工的口粮是可以克扣的，反正他们不吃不喝也事不关己，这就是一大笔收入；工程的费用也是可以克扣的，反正黄河泛滥也淹不死自己这些当官的。
1. When the Yuan Dynasty ordered 170,000 laborers to repair the river embankments, officials at all levels were exceptionally thrilled. Firstly, they could embezzle the funds allocated by the emperor for the river repairs and skim off the laborers' rations—after all, whether the laborers ate or not was none of their concern, which meant a substantial income. They could also cut corners on project costs, since Yellow River floods wouldn't drown them, the officials.
二、不管河务的怎么捞钱呢？工程有徭役指标，修河堤，不想去？拿钱来。没有钱？有什么值钱的都带走！
2. How did those in charge of river affairs extort money? The project had corvée labor quotas. Didn't want to work on the embankments? Then pay up. No money? They'd take anything of value you had!
三、当民工们挖到山东时，他们从河道下挖出了一个一只眼睛的石人，背部刻着：石人一只眼，挑动黄河天下反。民工们突然发现，这正是他们在工地上传唱了几年的歌词。于是人心思动。
3. When the laborers dug to Shandong, they unearthed a stone figure with one eye from the riverbed, inscribed on its back: "The one-eyed stone man will stir the Yellow River to revolt all under heaven." The laborers suddenly realized these were the very lyrics they had been chanting at the worksite for years. Thus, hearts and minds grew restless.
四、白莲教大概算是中国历史上最神秘、最有号召力，也最有杀伤力的民间教派。东晋时佛教净土宗祖慧远建莲池讲坛，曰白莲社。
4. The White Lotus Society is perhaps the most mysterious, influential, and lethal folk religious sect in Chinese history. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Huiyuan, the patriarch of the Pure Land school of Buddhism, established a lotus pond lecturing platform called the White Lotus Society.
五、宋高宗绍兴三年（1133年）茅子元据此创净土分支白莲宗，主张素食，故其教徒被称为“白莲菜人”。历来都是农民起义的重要力量，从元到清，一直不断。
5. In the third year of the Shaoxing era under Emperor Gaozong of Song (1133 AD), Mao Ziyuan founded the White Lotus sect, a branch of Pure Land Buddhism, based on this tradition. It advocated vegetarianism, hence its followers were called "White Lotus vegetarians." Throughout history, it remained a significant force in peasant uprisings, continuously active from the Yuan to the Qing dynasty.
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