Martial Suppression Bureau

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Martial Suppression Bureau
Original Name	镇武司
Organization Type	Imperial enforcement, intelligence, and military organization within the Imperial Personal Guard 108 297
Affiliation	Great Yan Imperial Court; directly loyal to Emperor Jing 108 118
Founder	Emperor Jing, following his assumption of personal rule 108 124
Leader	Zhao Feng, appointed Commandant with overall command of its military affairs 317
Former Leader	Lu Bing, who relinquishes the public command while continuing to serve the emperor from the shadows 317
Occupation/Role	Supervision of martial organizations and officials; criminal and treason investigations; suppression of demonic sects, rebels, and foreign enemies 108 252 312
Headquarters and Offices	Central offices and Imperial Prison in the Upper Capital; provincial and prefectural branches, including Qingzhou and Ever-Peace 208 251 305 318
Status	Active under Zhao Feng; continues investigating court affairs and asserting imperial authority over powerful sects 370 380
First Appearance	Introduced by name in Chapter 108 108

Background / History

Emperor Jing establishes the Bureau as an elite force loyal to him personally after taking control of the government. Its founding mandate is to suppress and supervise the realm’s martial powers—including sects, lineages, martial arts schools, and escort agencies—and eliminate the Demonic Sect and rebels 108.

Its creation reverses a period in which court disorder and the dominance of imperial relatives allowed sects and local magnates to overshadow government offices. The Bureau becomes a means of restoring imperial jurisdiction over martial territory, wealth, and resources 124 188.

Initially operating partly through concealed offices and nominal appointments, it develops into an openly established institution that attracts talented sect disciples. In Ever-Peace Prefecture, its Dark Guard office moves from Ink Fragrance Alley into an official Inner City headquarters once its position is secure 118 205 208.

Mandate and Authority

Responsibilities

• Martial supervision: Monitors civilian martial organizations and demands an accounting from factions implicated in demonic activity 108 124.
• Criminal enforcement: Pursues serious criminals, demonic-path practitioners, and businesses or organizations suspected of rebellion or collaboration with the Demonic Sect 252.
• Political investigations: Investigates officials and networks connected to treason, corruption, and the emperor’s court opponents 118 318.
• Military service: Conducts raids, infiltration, supply interdiction, battlefield operations, and civilian protection missions 282 291 312.
• Restoration of imperial control: Reclaims sect-controlled territory and revenue, including taxation within the Lancang River system 188.

Primary Targets

Xia Commandant names three principal targets when briefing the Ever-Peace Dark Guard 118:

1. The Demonic Sect
2. The Northern Barbarians
3. The Empress Dowager’s faction

Agents are also instructed to gather intelligence on lesser threats throughout society, including within sects and powerful clans 118.

Legal and Command Powers

• Execute first, report afterward: The Bureau possesses exceptional authority to act before submitting a report. Zhao Feng invokes it after executing Magistrate Yang Xingquan for collaboration and obstruction 108 201.
• Inspection and arrest: A Hundred-Household Officer’s token authorizes mobilization of subordinate Guards, local inspections, and arrests. Government offices and garrisons must cooperate 251.
• Emergency mobilization: Zhao receives authority to mobilize local forces without interference from government offices for his northern-county mission 188.
• Searches regardless of location: During the Cloud Crane Academy confrontation, Emperor Jing explicitly orders that suspected enemy collaborators and traitors be investigated wherever they are, with no obstruction permitted 310.
• Independent jurisdiction: The Bureau does not fall under the Ministry of War. Sun Chenzong commands its forces at the front through his separate imperial appointment as military supervisor 297.

Organization and Personnel

Branches

Branch	Function	Operational Details
Martial Suppression Guards	Overt enforcement and military operations	Conduct arrests, confiscations, investigations, and battlefield missions; publicly recognizable by their Flying Fish Uniforms and black cloaks 124 290 318.
Dark Guard	Covert intelligence and infiltration	Uses screened recruits, code names, concealed identities, informants, and secret contact signals. Xia Commandant initially oversees eighteen assembled agents in Ever-Peace 118 134 289.

Documented Offices and Members

Office / Position	Known Holders	Details
Commandant	Lu Bing; later Zhao Feng	Zhao receives overall command of the Bureau’s military affairs. Lu remains an imperial operative after stepping aside 305 317.
Pacification Commissioner	Zhao Feng	Awarded after his capture of Liang Yong and protection of approximately 100,000 civilians 295.
Inspector	Fu Fengxing	Coordinates regional anti–Blood Lotus Sect operations and supports Zhao’s recruitment and advancement 208 251.
Thousand-Household Officer	Shao Kai, Fan, Dong; later Zhao Feng	Prefectural branches have Thousand-Household offices. The provincial capital’s officer holds an upper fifth-rank post, half a grade above equivalent prefectural officers 251 280 281 316.
Deputy Thousand-Household Officer	Zhao Feng	Temporarily commands Ever-Peace’s Guards while Qianhu Fan recovers from injuries 271.
Hundred-Household Officer	Zhao Feng, Yue Lang, Luo Xiong, Xia Qing	Zhao’s post is Principal Sixth Rank. Yue and Luo advance from probationary appointments to full officers 264 273 275 281.
Chief Banner Officer	Zhao Feng, Yue Lang	Zhao holds this office before promotion to Hundred-Household Officer; Yue serves in the Twenty-First Hundred-Household Office 206 251 252.
Banner Captain	Luo Xiong	Initially assigned to Zhao’s unit as Yue Lang’s deputy 260.
Colonel	Jiang Chen, Xie Qiu	Both take posts during the Bureau’s expansion and later seek active service under Zhao 208 281.
Dark Guard agent	Zhao Feng, code name Ink Eagle; A Mu	Ink Eagle serves under Xia Commandant; A Mu operates under Yue Lang inside rebel-held Jinyang 118 289.
Guard / recruit	Qiao’er; Li Yong and Zhang Hao	Qiao’er joins the Qingzhou Bureau after reaching Astral Force. Zhao accepts Li and Zhang’s request to join after their recovery 274 341.

Recruitment and Staffing

• Dark Guard candidates undergo background investigation and screening; imperial allegiance is expected to outweigh sect allegiance 118.
• Martial Masters and sect disciples must pass selection or assessment before entering service 208 274 275.
• Many prefectural Thousand-Household offices are severely understaffed, unlike the fully staffed Qingzhou capital office 281.
• During wartime, the provincial capital’s Thousand-Household Officer may command up to twelve Hundred-Household Officers 281.
• The destruction of Bing Province’s original Bureau personnel makes rebuilding that branch an urgent priority 281.

Operational Capabilities

Intelligence and Infiltration

• Embedded informants: Reports from agents planted within martial factions reach the Bureau’s covert office during the Ever-Peace crackdown 134.
• Surveillance networks: Undercover watchers monitor the Hu Family, its relatives, and its associates before the assault on its residence 136.
• Long-term penetration: The Bureau plans to activate an old covert agent inside the Blood Lotus Sect 208.
• Battlefield intelligence: Spies establish Börgö’s location, guard arrangements, and the timing of his meeting with Liang Yong, enabling Zhao’s infiltration of Jinyang 288 289.
• Financial investigation: Seized bank records and testimony trace payments from collaborating lineages to the Prince of Jin’s Residence 315 316.

Coordinated Military Operations

The Bureau combines its own martial experts with imperial troops and allied sect fighters. Blood Lotus Sect leaders identify its intelligence network, command of the sects, and access to imperial forces as decisive changes in the balance of power 207.

• Launches simultaneous attacks on dispersed strongholds 211 260.
• Uses concealed routes and rapid marches for rear attacks 273 312 314.
• Conducts convoy ambushes and mobile supply raids rather than relying solely on frontal battles 282 312.
• Coordinates infantry, archers, cavalry, and martial officers in defensive actions 293 354.

Armor-Breaking Formation

Sun Chenzong devises the Armor-Breaking Formation specifically for the Martial Suppression Guard. At the time Zhao drills it, every participating Guard is at least at the Hidden Force level 290.

• Organization: Three men form a squad, ten squads form a company, and one hundred companies form a complete formation 290.
• Shape: Resembles a mystic tortoise 290.
• Principles: “Hard outside, supple within; offense and defense as one; head and tail responding to each other” 290.
• Applications: Flexible defense and offense against cavalry, infantry, and attacks from multiple directions 290.

Investigation and Technical Support

• Maintains case files, interrogation records, maps, and documentary evidence for officers to consult 218 251 305.
• Employs apothecaries capable of verifying the effects and ingredients of Blood Baleful Pills, including their use of blood from children’s hearts 136.
• Operates an Imperial Prison in the Upper Capital for captured officials and other prisoners 305.

Resources and Equipment

Merit System

Valuable intelligence and completed missions earn Merit Points, redeemable for cultivation methods and other resources. The Bureau’s imperial backing gives it a collection beyond what individual prefectural sects can offer 130 208.

Resource / Reward	Documented Cost or Terms
Pill Embracement internal cultivation manual	Generally 200 Merit Points 134.
Pill Embracement combat art	Generally 120 Merit Points; special techniques may cost more 134.
Overlord Sun-Splitting Spear	Xia permits Zhao to obtain it with an outstanding merit debt 134.
Rock-Steadfast Thick Earth Art	Available through the Bureau’s manual collection 206.
Origin-returning spirit milk	Zhao obtains an advance with Shao Kai’s approval after accumulating mission merit 257.
Blood Lotus Sect campaign bounty	One Vitality Pill and twenty taels per disciple’s head; participants may retain seized goods under the announced terms 260.

Uniforms, Credentials, and Field Equipment

• Flying Fish Uniforms and black cloaks — Identifying attire of overt Guards; helmets and armor are worn over the uniforms in battle 124 290.
• Waist badges, tokens, and appointment documents — Establish identity and official authority 251.
• Commandant’s token — Palm-sized iron token bearing a fierce bian beast on the front and the office’s inscription on the reverse 327.
• Sabers, spears, bows, shields, and cavalry equipment — Used across enforcement and military operations 290 292 354.
• Human Skin Mask — Used by Zhao while operating as Ink Eagle 118 128.
• Wind-Listening Tube — Lent by Xia Commandant for Zhao’s reconnaissance mission 132.
• Firearms Battalion support — Lu Bing commits the elite battalion to support the Cloud Crane Academy operation 309.

Major Operations

Arc / Operation	Chapters	Outcome and Significance
Ever-Peace crackdown	124 132 134	Investigates Potter’s Field, destroys a Blood Lotus Sect stronghold, and closes the prefecture’s black market, disrupting trade backed by influential factions.
Hu Family assault	135 136	Declares the family guilty of demonic collaboration and attacks with Wang and Feng family support. The defenders’ use of Blood Baleful Pills reveals artificially produced Pill Embracement fighters.
Eight Extremes Gate intervention	170 173	Warns the sect before the attack, provides assistance, and takes a captured Demonic Sect operative for interrogation. Panic-driven defections help secure Bureau leadership of the Five Sects Alliance.
Regional consolidation	188 208	Assumes leadership of regional alliances, reclaims territory and revenue, and establishes an official Ever-Peace headquarters.
Branch-hall strikes	208 211	Coordinates operations against secret Ever-Peace and Huaiyuan Blood Lotus halls while their senior leaders are absent.
Black Wind Sect and Peaceful Horse Ranch	254 257	Zhao’s unit destroys the Black Wind Sect’s leadership and later uncovers letters, ledgers, and illicit silver linking the ranch to the Demonic Sect.
Blood Lotus headquarters campaign	260 261	Simultaneous Bureau, army, and orthodox-sect assaults destroy the headquarters and other strongholds. The Blood Lotus Dharma King escapes and remains unidentified.
Defense of Big Stone County	263 264 266 268	Zhao brings roughly fifty Guards, organizes local resistance, and breaks the siege by killing rebel commander Hu Shahu.
Crouching Tiger Mountain assault	273 274	Nearly four hundred elite Guards use a hidden passage beneath an old Bureau branch to attack Wu Liang’s headquarters. Zhao kills Wu Liang, contributing to the collapse of the rebel offensive into Qingzhou.
Liao Family punishment	278 280	Zhao, Yue Lang, and Luo Xiong infiltrate rebel-held Bingzhou under merchant identities. Zhao kills Liao Tianlong and Liao Kuan, discouraging other clans from aiding the rebels.
Anbo supply interdiction	282	More than seven hundred Guards ambush a convoy escorted by two thousand troops; Zhao kills its commander, Zhou Hu.
Jinyang infiltration	288 289 290	Dark Guard intelligence enables Zhao to kill Börgö and capture Liang Yong, helping the Eastern Route Army seize the city.
Tong River civilian escort	291 293 294	Three thousand Guards protect approximately 100,000 evacuees against twenty thousand barbarian cavalry until reinforcements arrive. Just over fifteen hundred Guards survive.
Puppet Liang palace assault	299 312	Guards fight through the palace defenses; their role as the first force to storm the palace becomes part of their military reputation.
Cloud Crane Academy siege	309 310	More than ten thousand Guards surround the academy to arrest Fei Yuanzhong for selling intelligence to Puppet Liang. An imperial decree overrides efforts to obstruct the search.
You Province liberation	312 314 315 316	Zhao leads ten thousand elite Guards across the Helan Plateau, raids supply routes, captures the provincial capital, seizes collaborating lineages, and defeats Hu Hamu’s final assault.
Upper Capital purge	317 318	After becoming Commandant, Zhao issues 137 warrants. The Bureau arrests 137 officials, confiscates property, and interrogates prisoners to expose further members of the Maternal Relatives’ network.
Border supply investigations	339	The You Province branch arrests collaborating families and trading firms, placing border provisions and materials under direct imperial control.
Capital monster case	342 348	Receives a ten-day deadline before the festival court assembly. A later confiscation at Ding Huai’s residence uncovers bribery records implicating forty or fifty officials.
Northern campaign	354 360 367	Guards help defeat a cavalry ambush, remove supplies and captives from a hidden stockade, and fight the Northern Barbarian Royal Court Guards.
Secluded-sect confrontation	380	Zhao refuses to return fragments placed in Bureau custody. Former Commandant Lu Bing and Li Cheng’en support his position against powerful sect elders.

Relationships

• Emperor Jing — Founder and direct patron. Protects the Bureau against political opposition and employs it to dismantle treasonous and corrupt networks 108 310 317 318.
• Five Sects Alliance — Accepts Bureau leadership after infiltration scandals and defections; its disciples increasingly enter Bureau service 173 205 208.
• Huaiyuan Four Sects — Cooperate in anti–Demonic Sect operations alongside the Ever-Peace alliance 182 211.
• Imperial Army — Joint-operation partner against the Blood Lotus Sect, Puppet Liang, and Northern Barbarians 261 285 294.
• Sun Chenzong — Imperial military supervisor and creator of the Armor-Breaking Formation. His initially critical view improves after the Bureau’s wartime achievements 280 290 297.
• Blood Lotus Sect — Major intelligence and military target; loses branch halls, headquarters, and numerous strongholds, though its leader survives 211 261 280.
• Northern Barbarians — Founding target and principal wartime enemy. Their leaders recognize the Bureau as a serious threat within barely a year of its establishment 118 165 312.
• Maternal Relatives’ Faction and Prince of Jin — Political adversaries investigated for corruption and enemy collaboration; faction members also petition for the Bureau’s abolition 274 316 318.
• Cloud Crane Academy — Opposes the Bureau’s search and arrest operation, invoking its institutional prestige and ordinary judicial procedures 309 310.
• Heavenly Pivot Pavilion and Great Void Sword Sect — Dispute the Bureau’s custody of fragments, leading to a confrontation checked by imperial experts 380.

Reputation and Controversies

• Fearsome enforcement reputation: Within less than two years, its suppression campaigns make its name widely known; the narration describes it as frightening enough to silence a crying child 202.
• Political hostility: Censors and civil officials denounce its members as imperial “hawks and hounds,” while the Maternal Relatives’ Faction repeatedly demands its abolition 274.
• Contested confiscation practices: Mission spoils provide income to officers and troops. Shao Kai questions Zhao’s retention of half the Black Wind Sect’s valuables but permits it after Fu Fengxing praises his performance 252 254.
• Coercive interrogations: During the Upper Capital purge, interrogators use every available means to obtain accomplices’ names, while the campaign leaves officials fearful of further arrests 318.
• Civilian protection: The Tong River stand changes Prefect Liu’s opinion of the Guards, and evacuated civilians pray for Zhao’s survival 293.
• Public discipline in liberated territory: In You Province City, Guards prevent looting, protect residents, and distribute food from seized granaries, gradually winning civilian trust 315.
• Disputed legitimacy: Lu Changfeng accuses Zhao of fabricated charges and destruction of innocent families. Zhao rejects the accusations, citing treason evidence and illicit wealth uncovered in the Prince of Jin’s network 321.