Great Liang

Biodata

Power Progression

History

Origins and Founding

Great Liang grew out of Lin Yi’s rise from Northern Liang and his establishment of Xiliang. Northern Liang had originally been a strategic northern stronghold subordinate to Great Ning. During Lin Yi’s campaign against Great Ning, Xiliang already possessed superior weapons, armor, bows, and crossbows 1 463.

After Li Anlan surrendered, Lin Yi chose Great Liang as the name of his dynasty. He considered Great Qin but rejected it because Northern Liang was his birthplace and Xiliang was his own creation. His retainers understood the chosen name as recognition of both territories and their contributions 500 502 504.

The dynasty was established by the time news reached the Shu Region. Order returned to the capital, and residents gradually resumed normal life after discovering that the occupying soldiers would not attack them. Guan Yu subsequently submitted with one hundred thousand troops, bringing the remaining south under Great Liang’s banners 512 514 523.

Expansion and Unification

Final Reign

After defeating Moses, Lin Yi acquires a world map and orders Guo Jia to continue the conquests. Gathering all Nine Tripod Cauldrons elevates him to Human Emperor. Later chronicles record that he reigns for ninety-nine years before ascending with his consorts as Human Emperor Zhenwu 1158.

Capital

• Yong'an City is Great Ning’s former capital, renamed after Great Liang’s takeover 525.
• An extensive expansion makes it more than three times its former size. Its walls display military achievements against the Northern Region Barbarians, Great Ning, southern chieftains, and overseas islands 525.
• The Court of Diplomatic Reception houses visiting foreign delegations and becomes a center of competition for Great Liang’s favor 546.
• Chengtian Gate hosts public celebrations shared by the emperor and the capital’s people 584.
• By Lin Yi’s birthday gathering, crowded streets, active merchants, and imposing guards impress visiting rulers with the capital’s prosperity and strength 707.

Government and Administration

Imperial Authority

• Power is concentrated in Lin Yi’s hands. He contrasts Great Liang’s unified command with western coalitions whose members dispute losses and the division of spoils 817.
• The Net monitors submitted elites, follows visiting southern chieftains, and infiltrates foreign powers to influence their alliances 530 674.
• Military strength initially outpaces administrative capacity. Lin Yi identifies the shortage of officials capable of governing the expanding empire as a major remaining weakness 717.

The Great Liang System

Lin Yi develops the Great Liang system to extend government beyond the original Xiliang faction. The empire’s size and the purge of remnants of powerful clans create a shortage of grassroots officials, making broader recruitment necessary 686.

• Imperial examinations: Select talented candidates for government service; an early trial supplies officials to the newly founded dynasty 660.
• Cross-class participation: Merchants, landowners, and great clans receive opportunities to contribute, provided they remain loyal 686.
• Xiliang core: The original Xiliang organization remains the foundation, while other groups are incorporated into the wider imperial structure 686.
• Specialist recruitment: Development requires technical experts, merchants, and builders of civilization as well as soldiers and officials 686.

Great Liang’s First Decree

• Establishes rules governing the rights and responsibilities of native inhabitants and people from conquered territories 766.
• Gives the interests of Great Liang’s own people priority, justified by their support for the armies and the burdens they have borne 766.
• Provides a path of advancement for outsiders seeking entry into the favored citizen rank 766.
• Benefits associated with this privileged status include free education, care for the young, and support for the elderly 766.

Military and Technology

Forces and Command

• The army combines system-provided forces with increasing numbers of locally recruited soldiers 674.
• Its formations include the Vanguard Dare-to-Die Warriors, Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and white-horse cavalry praised for speed and offensive power 567.
• Great Liang’s battlefield advantages include discipline, formations, armor, and concentrated ranged fire—not simply numerical superiority 634 647 702.
• Lin Rusong returns to field command when Lin Yi orders a million troops against Frostwest 896.

Heavenly Craft Workshop

• Serves as the empire’s principal center for weapons research and improvement 676.
• Develops fire lances, Crouching Tiger Cannons, and improved Red-Coat Cannons 676.
• Continual equipment upgrades require the major legions to retrain and become accustomed to new weapons 715.
• Ma Jun turns Lin Yi’s technical theories into practical inventions, helping upgrade the army’s equipment to a new generation 961.
• Steelmaking remains a temporary limitation before Lin Yi obtains the Intermediate Steelmaking Method 679 721.

Navy

• Great Liang possesses shipbuilding technology coveted by Yamata and other foreign powers 757.
• Zhou Yu and Gan Ning prepare a fleet interception against three hundred thousand troops arriving from the Land of the Far West; the force is subsequently reported destroyed at sea 944 1005.
• After the western campaigns, Lin Yi orders full-scale warship construction because future enemies lie overseas and land armies cannot compensate for insufficient naval transport and combat strength 1039.
• Against Moses, ironclads and cannons establish a naval advantage that enemy intelligence considers effectively unmatched 1153.

Economy and Society

Agriculture and Wealth

• At the dynasty’s founding, Lin Yi promises potatoes yielding thousands of jin per mu and access to schooling for children 503.
• Potato harvests become a source of public optimism, while later high-yield rice accompanies the empire’s continuing agricultural development 576 1048.
• Conquest supplies vast financial and material resources. Swift campaigns initially avoid the prolonged military stalemates that would otherwise drain the treasury 597.
• Development is uneven: shortly after unification, only former Xiliang can fully keep pace with the empire’s expansion 558.
• Submitted aristocratic clans redirect resources toward development, while merchants and great families later contribute tens of millions of strings of cash 558 827.

Public Identity and Integration

• Victory ceremonies give inhabitants of newly absorbed territories a sense of participation in imperial affairs, addressing divisions between populations that nominally belong to the same state 809.
• A three-day public feast strengthens citizens’ shared identification with Great Liang. People of other ethnic groups receive less generous provisions, making the difference in treatment visible 827.
• Following continental unification, former Northern Barbarians, southern chieftains, and Zhennan subjects join the seven-day celebrations as people of Great Liang 1070.
• Popular reverence identifies Lin Yi with Great Emperor Zhenwu. Jiang Li later proposes a statue, subject to Zhang Jiao’s review 576 1070.

Foreign Relations

• Peace through force: Great Liang presents itself as a guardian of peace while threatening military action against states accused of infringing its rights or endangering its security 666.
• Supplementary foreign-relations provisions: Its policy permits eliminating powers it regards as threats to its peace. Smaller southwestern rulers consider allegiance safer than risking that designation 783.
• Flexible alliances: Lin Yi refuses to bind Great Liang permanently to either Great West or Frostwest, seeking benefits from both while treating imperial interests as the constant factor 614.
• Grand Western Alliance: Great Liang’s expansion pushes former enemies, including Great West and Frostwest, toward cooperation. Smaller countries join out of fear of being conquered individually 751 757.
• Xinma Empire: Initially seeks friendly trade after assessing Great Liang’s strength. Later requests for military aid become tied to Princess Dada’s marriage and Mary An Da’s promise to hand over Xinma 1018 1094 1105.
• Central Nation Plan: Zhang Zizai proposes taking over an inhabited overseas colony under the language of liberation, while retaining its people’s labor. Lin Yi approves further study rather than immediate implementation 864.

Notable Quotes

“Though Great Liang loves peace, it never shies away from force. Let your nation not claim it was not forewarned!”
— Imperial edict delivered to the Zhennan court by Zhang Fei 666

“The Xiliang system alone is not enough to sustain the vast Great Liang Empire. We need to build a Great Liang system.”
— Lin Yi 686