Great Chu

Biodata

Power Progression

History

Great Chu Taizu, Fan Zhuqing, raised an army during a White Lotus Sect uprising, drove out the Manchu Qing and founded Great Chu. Over the following decades, he strengthened its military and developed maritime trade, bringing the empire into competition with Britain and other colonial powers 211. Taizu later told Tang Changsheng that a vision seen through the Myriad Forms Mirror had inspired his campaign 881.

A prolonged world war against Britain and its allies strained Great Chu's finances and forces. The Long-Haired Rebellion then seized half the country, forcing Great Chu to make peace abroad. Domestic upheaval brought down the imperial family, while foreign armies invaded 211 212 294. The Founding Ancestor returned with supporters from overseas, suppressed the rebellion and restored the dynasty, but Great Chu lost North America and much of its colonial empire 137 294.

In a later war, Emperor Mingde opposed calls for peace and pressed the fight against the Allied Nations. Their defeat established Great Chu as the world's dominant power 627. Under his successors, the empire remained powerful even as the Imperial Family's direct political influence diminished 1175.

Government and Society

• Capital: Luodu, also called New Luo, is Great Chu's political and religious center 582 587.
• Monarchy: Great Chu is a constitutional monarchy. Its Son of Heaven ceased to govern directly but retained immense prestige and spiritual significance 497 587 905.
• Elder Council: Its Three Elders are nobles; capable commoners may instead enter as Fifth Elders. Tang Changsheng formally joined the Three Elders after receiving an Appointment Document and Jade Token 550 589.
• Nobility: Imperial law assigns citizens ranks at birth, but only the highest five—baron through duke—count as true nobility. Titles diminish across generations, making hereditary nobles rare 242.
• Court intelligence: The Brocade Guard's Northern and Southern Offices are among Great Chu's highest intelligence agencies; the Southern Office has direct ties to the Imperial Family 595.

Military and Spiritual Power

• Conventional forces: Great Chu is described as the world's sole superpower. Its navy fields carrier strike groups, including the Xuzhou and Ganzhou groups sent to the Mediterranean 242 977.
• Dragon Aura: The empire's collective Fortune empowers its heroic spirits and Dragon Court. Its force overwhelmed foreign Ghost Soldiers before their commander summoned a rival manifestation of Fortune 570 571.
• Heavenly forces: The Heavenly Court fields Heavenly Soldiers and retains large numbers of Ghost Soldiers. Great Chu's military supplies heavy firepower while Heavenly Soldiers counter monsters that threaten conventional forces 1195 1226.
• World-bound authority: Great Chu's rulers can gain formidable power from their rank, but that borrowed strength vanishes outside the Great Chu World 1392.

Major Campaigns

• The New World expedition: Great Chu discovered the Zhengyuan spatial passage and sent more than a million people through it, but established only one coastal base. When a shrinking passage stranded a carrier fleet and its personnel, Tang Changsheng was tasked with finding a way to bring them home 973 977.
• Response to the monster invasion: Great Chu and its Heavenly Court launched coordinated operations across the world. The empire subsequently used nuclear weapons against monster-occupied Australia and an Outer Regions Divine Temple there 1226 1227.
• Renewed expansion: After Great Chu's prosperity reached a point Tang Changsheng considered difficult to sustain, he proposed sending troops into the Otherworld for new resources and markets. Empress Fan Wan'er convened an Imperial Audience, and the leadership began large-scale preparations 1518 1519.