Chen Youliang was born to a fishing family in Hubei and was working as a minor clerk when he joined the Red Turbans. Having grown up on the water he understood boats and river channels, an enormous advantage in the lake-and-river country of southern China. He rose quickly, removing the superior he served, and eventually declared himself emperor of a state he called Han.
His strength lay in his fleet. He held the middle Yangtze with hundreds of multi-decked tower ships and outnumbered Zhu Yuanzhang in men as well. In 1363 he took that fleet into Lake Poyang to settle the contest.
But he had chained the great ships together to keep them steady, and that proved fatal. When Zhu sent small boats loaded with dry reeds and powder downwind, the chained vessels could not scatter and burned. After more than a month of fighting Chen was killed by an arrow, and mastery of the south passed to Zhu Yuanzhang.