However, it is known that he was a charismatic figure who quickly gathered thousands of followers in eastern Hưng Hóa and western Sơn Tây provinces, and moved them directly against the capital Thăng Long, now modern-day Hanoi.

Contrary views hold that both were revolts of the peripheral powers against the central administration led by charismatic figures bent on striking directly at the political and symbolic heart of the Lê dynasty.

They usually roamed the countryside intimidating landlords and pillaging opposing villages, allowing government forces in the capital enough time to organize an effective response.

Cao based his bid for the throne on a combination of genealogical and spiritual platform that balanced maternal and paternal lineage and doctrinal Buddhist and folk elements.

This combination quickly gave rise to a large following in his home district of Thuy Duong and the adjacent Đông Triều, where "all bowed down to him like grass before the wind".

In early 1516, Cảo recruited fighters at Quynh Lam Pagoda in Đông Triều, a religious site reputed to have miraculous powers.

After shaving their heads, he marched them unopposed, ten thousand strong, through the Kinh Bac districts of Que Duong and Tiên Du, down to the plains of Gia Lâm to Từ Liêm in Sơn Tây Province.

The failure to apprehend him was despite the efforts of the populace who might have sought it, blaming him for the high death toll in Đông Triều, Giap Son, Yen Phong, Tiên Du, and Dong Ngan caused by starvation after vengeful Lê royalists razed the area.