The Rule of Jingtai, conclusion & of Jingding I, Chapter I
After the great Tibetan war, the rule of Jingtai began to follow his health, slowly declining as the years past. While the military force in the South kept revolutions down, many in the occupied provinces knew that weakness was being shown from within the walls of the Imperial City and they wanted to take advantage of it as quickly as possible.
While revolutionaries planned to remove the yoke of Chinese rule in the South, in the North, another less obvious sense of warfare was being waged. Within the market places of Jingzou, Sortau, and Changsau, merchants of the Chinese Empire were slowly being brided, coerced, and intimidated away from their employers service to work for other nations. The backers of such a plot were doing well to cover their tracks, although with the decline of the central government, it was not hard to achieve.
Finally the fateful day came. White banners flew across the nations as the news of the passing of the Emporer swept across the land. Ruler of almost a quarter century, Jingtai would be loved by his followers, but reviled by recent subjects to the Empire. His advisers and those closest to him in court circles would be of the middle of the scale of love and hate; he was a poor emperor there was no mistaking that. And yet he appealed to the common serf, and his successes in the battlefield would solidify a reputation that was larger then the man himself. Only a long dehabilitating illness would sully his reputation in the slightest, and even them not by much. A true paradox.
Rising to the throne would be his eldest, Jingding The First. Unlike his father, he had proved to be a very capable man for the head position in all regards*. As dignitaries, royalty and heads of state gathered to pay their last respects, Jingding took control of the council, ordering efforts in the training community re-doubled, and to find out the source of who was accosting their merchants and their bankers. Those that were responsible would give Jingding his first taste of battle.
The source was finally found through their contacts in the underworld and spy networks, but it was not who you would expect.
* = Stats of 7/7/8. Not too shabby if you ask me!
After the great Tibetan war, the rule of Jingtai began to follow his health, slowly declining as the years past. While the military force in the South kept revolutions down, many in the occupied provinces knew that weakness was being shown from within the walls of the Imperial City and they wanted to take advantage of it as quickly as possible.
While revolutionaries planned to remove the yoke of Chinese rule in the South, in the North, another less obvious sense of warfare was being waged. Within the market places of Jingzou, Sortau, and Changsau, merchants of the Chinese Empire were slowly being brided, coerced, and intimidated away from their employers service to work for other nations. The backers of such a plot were doing well to cover their tracks, although with the decline of the central government, it was not hard to achieve.
Finally the fateful day came. White banners flew across the nations as the news of the passing of the Emporer swept across the land. Ruler of almost a quarter century, Jingtai would be loved by his followers, but reviled by recent subjects to the Empire. His advisers and those closest to him in court circles would be of the middle of the scale of love and hate; he was a poor emperor there was no mistaking that. And yet he appealed to the common serf, and his successes in the battlefield would solidify a reputation that was larger then the man himself. Only a long dehabilitating illness would sully his reputation in the slightest, and even them not by much. A true paradox.
Rising to the throne would be his eldest, Jingding The First. Unlike his father, he had proved to be a very capable man for the head position in all regards*. As dignitaries, royalty and heads of state gathered to pay their last respects, Jingding took control of the council, ordering efforts in the training community re-doubled, and to find out the source of who was accosting their merchants and their bankers. Those that were responsible would give Jingding his first taste of battle.
The source was finally found through their contacts in the underworld and spy networks, but it was not who you would expect.
* = Stats of 7/7/8. Not too shabby if you ask me!
