Great Zhen

Biodata

History

Great Zhen entered a precarious period under Emperor Yuande: the imperial family and court were divided by infighting, local governance faced problems, and high-ranking deities had begun to worry about the dynasty's future. Its prominence also drew increasing attention from cultivators after the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion affair 230. Despite Yuande's poor decisions, observers considered the dynasty's underlying foundation far from exhausted 239.

The Water and Land Dharma Assembly gathered Great Zhen's mortal masters alongside cultivators, Dragon Race representatives, regional deities, and established Immortal Abodes. The event demonstrated both the dynasty's legitimacy and its ability to draw together disparate forces within the Human Dao 234.

During the war with Zuyue, Great Zhen relied on its Royal Army, martial artists, and righteous cultivators to counter enemy demons, ghosts, and sorcerers. Its victories in Qizhou opened the way for a sustained offensive; Ji Yuan held that Great Zhen would ultimately prevail because the fate of the Human Dao must rest with humans rather than “crooked paths” 675. The execution of the Zuyue Emperor ended Zuyue's sovereignty, after which Great Zhen began incorporating the former kingdom into its administration 734.

Zuyue Annexation

Great Zhen's conquest was accompanied by an imperial policy intended to win over Zuyue's population rather than merely occupy its land.

• The army was ordered not to harm civilians, destroy fields, seize goods without payment, indiscriminately kill, or forcibly take women. 734
• Administrative halls were established so civilians could report grievances without fees or formal petitions. 734
• Those supporting Great Zhen were promised protection of both property and personal safety under Great Zhen law. 734
• Former Zuyue territory was reorganized into six new Great Zhen provinces, retaining elements of original place names while adopting Great Zhen's prefecture-and-county system. 801
• The court later prepared to resettle nearly ten million people arriving from the Land Boat, regarding its territory and food supply as sufficient if properly administered. 852

Human Dao and National Destiny

Ji Yuan regarded Great Zhen's survival and rise as central to Yunzhou's Human Dao. He told Hong Shengtin that the fate of Yunzhou's human world rested on the Battle of the Southern Reach and that Great Zhen could not be allowed to fall 676.

Fengshan Sacrifice

Ji Yuan proposed that the Great Zhen Emperor perform a Fengshan Sacrifice at Tingqiu Mountain to stabilize the dynasty's fate 677. The ceremony was later recognized through worldwide celestial phenomena, making its success impossible for other nations and cultivators to ignore 899.

• The sacrificial scroll included honors for major divine and cultivation powers, though Ji Yuan refused inclusion because he did not want the associated trouble. 889
• The successful rite caused other imperial dynasties to consider conducting Fengshan Sacrifices of their own. 899
• Great Zhen's name spread across the world among mortals, cultivators, righteous factions, and demons alike. 899

Civil and Martial Temples

Great Zhen moved to establish Confucian and Martial Temples to consolidate literary and martial destiny. Ji Yuan supported the project partly to ensure that Yin Zhaoxian's Righteous Qi would not dissipate after his death 890.

• Yin Zhaoxian became associated with the Literary Sage position. 899
• Zuo Wuji became associated with the Martial Sage position. 899
• Other nations rapidly adopted similar temple-building plans after Great Zhen's Fengshan Sacrifice. 899

Military

Great Zhen's military strength combines conventional forces, martial practitioners, cultivator support, and mechanism warfare.

• Royal Army — Defeated Zuyue's forces in Qizhou and continued the offensive with surrendered soldiers incorporated into its ranks. 675
• Elite martial pawns — Martial soldiers capable of fighting alongside regular troops against supernatural threats. 1018
• Mechanism warships — Great Zhen deployed half its navy, comprising fifty thousand naval personnel and one hundred thousand iron-blooded martial pawns aboard hundreds of warships. 1018
• Overseas intervention — The navy crossed through Bilan Kingdom and reached Qiliang Kingdom in under ten days to reinforce a city besieged by demons, monsters, and bewitched humans. 1018
• Conscription during the demonic crisis — The court expanded recruitment as demonic activity intensified across the world; many new citizens enlisted with particular zeal because of their history of enslavement by demons. 1023

Society

Great Zhen's growing strength is tied not only to its government and military, but also to public identification with the dynasty.

• Yin Zhaoxian and the Yin family promoted education, better governance, and a stronger scholarly and martial culture over decades. 584
• New citizens brought into Great Zhen developed unusually strong loyalty, having received protection and equal treatment after generations of suffering under demon rule. 1023
• Great Zhen's martial heroes, particularly Zuo Wuji, gained significant prestige among the new citizens and became symbols of the dynasty's strength. 888
• The Dragon Transformation Banquet was used to publicly project Great Zhen's stature to the Dragon Race and overseas water tribes. 863

Relationships

• Ji Yuan — External protector and adviser who repeatedly acts to preserve Great Zhen's fate while avoiding direct interference in ordinary court affairs. 676 890
• Yin Zhaoxian — Senior Great Zhen statesman and Literary Sage whose Vast Righteous Qi is deeply tied to the dynasty's literary destiny. 863 899
• Yin Qing — Court official who advocated the Civil and Martial Temples and proposed broad conscription against demonic threats. 888 1023
• Yin Chong — General who earned fame during the Zuyue war and later led Great Zhen's elite forces as Grand Marshal of Divine Might. 662 1037
• Zuo Wuji — Martial Sage whose reputation strengthens Great Zhen's martial fate and inspires loyalty among its new citizens. 888 899
• Dragon Race — Received Great Zhen's delegation at Ying Ruoli's Dragon Transformation Banquet, where Yin Zhaoxian's Righteous Qi commanded the Dragon Lords' respect. 863
• Qianyuan Sect — Cultivation sect that resettled new citizens in Great Zhen and sought to establish an outer-sect blessed land and send young disciples to the Celestial Master Bureau. 857