Jiangnan

Biodata

Power Progression

These milestones describe Jiangnan’s growth as a regional power, rather than an individual cultivation path.

Geography and Strategic Sites

Government and Leadership

Jiangnan’s government combines mortal administration with Divine Path offices. Its seven Underworld officials oversee internal affairs, while mountain gods manage rural faith and control major grain supplies. Military and naval leaders retain substantial independent influence 446.

• Chen Qing — The central authority holding Jiangnan’s otherwise divided leadership together. His seat remains empty during meetings held in his absence because no other leader can legitimately occupy it 446 937.
• Wei Gongcheng — Governs Liuzhou and heads the Underworld, holding a position that even the Shen Family must respect 446 762.
• The Shen Family — Jiangnan’s hereditary local overlords for a thousand years; later hold powerful Underworld offices across the region. These offices are subject to rotation rather than permanent possession 65 762 763.
• Xu Hu — Battle God and commander associated with the Fighter Army. His faith following initially exceeds Tian Heng’s 445.
• Tian Heng — God of the West Sea and leader of the expanding naval faction, incorporating his former household troops and Dragon Palace forces 445.
• Chen Ying — Head of Jiangnan Academy and a participant in regional policymaking and refugee recruitment 503 573.
• Ziyue — Helps coordinate Dragon Palace development and mediate among factions, but lacks the trust and authority to replace Chen Qing as final decision-maker 445 446.

Internal Divisions

• Hereditary elites and common-born leaders: The Shen Family’s local power coexists with Wei Gongcheng’s authority in Liuzhou and Xu Hu’s humble-background military following 446.
• Human and aquatic forces: Tian Heng favors his Tian Household Army when distributing faith power, creating an imbalance with the Dragon Palace troops 445.
• Scholar-gentry opposition: Chen Qing’s reforms weaken traditional scholarly privileges. Some local elites support restoring imperial control so they can reclaim authority over administration, education, and mountain-god territories 217 573.
• Dependence on Chen Qing: His prolonged absence exposes distrust among factions and creates opportunities for outsiders to encourage defections 445 446.

Economy and Living Standards

Before Chen Qing’s reforms, Jiangnan is already one of Great Jin’s most lucrative tax regions, surpassed only by the Heavenly Capital and Yunzhou. Major trading companies have powerful outside backers, but still defer to the local Shen Family 65.

Its later prosperity rests on controlled spiritual enrichment. Mountain and river gods use faith power to alter the environment gradually, producing spiritual energy more than ten times richer than elsewhere without the hostile effects associated with uncontrolled revival 515.

• Currency: Incense silver is commonly used locally. Outside money has limited purchasing power, while Jiangnan’s demand repeatedly drives up jadeite prices 294 504.
• Commercial leverage: Great families become deeply invested in Jiangnan’s trade, complicating efforts to organize an imperial campaign against it 212 213.
• Stored spells: Ordinary people can use basic warm jade and ice jade, but more complex jadeite-stored spells still require spellcasters 1063.

Education and Research

Jiangnan Academy

Established by Chen Qing in Liuzhou under the name Yin-Yang Academy, Jiangnan Academy combines modern science and engineering with spellcasting. Its teaching places particular importance on mathematics, theoretical foundations, formation studies, and practical technical ability 292 294 669.

• Broad recruitment: Aptitude in craftsmanship or other specialized fields can provide a route to becoming a respected spellcaster 473.
• Academic standards over pedigree: The academy rejects gifted hereditary spellcasters who lack the required foundation in natural philosophy 707.
• Local preparation advantage: Jiangnan students possess stronger theoretical foundations than many incoming great-family descendants 318.
• Social mobility: Commoners and descendants previously assigned to mundane household affairs can surpass traditionally privileged heirs through engineering and formation studies 573.
• Political restrictions: Following an imperial provocation, the academy temporarily stops admitting students from the capital 463.

Dragon Palace Research

• Dragon Palace Academy: Provides access to secret Dragon Palace spell arts and attracts students who previously dismissed Jiangnan’s encyclopedic approach 464.
• Civilian technology: Researchers adapt Dragon Palace discoveries for everyday use, producing major breakthroughs almost monthly during one period of expansion 445.
• Research energy: White jade obtained through Chen Qing’s earlier planning supplies ample power for academy research 445.
• Strategic importance: The academy is Jiangnan’s principal institution for absorbing ancient inheritances and a major reason rival factions seek influence within the region 552.

Entry Controls

During the academy assessment period, visiting families may send only members under twenty-five whose sorcerer rank is below the third rank. Unauthorized entry by stronger sorcerers can result in the entire family being barred and losing access to Jiangnan trade 300.

Military and Defenses

Divine Path Forces

Divine blessings strengthen bodies, expand meridians, and provide expendable supernatural energy. Higher-level fighters can eventually generate that energy themselves and distribute it to others, reducing dependence on direct blessings from a god 179 263.

• Recruitment incentives: Tiger Guard service offers housing, benefits, and access to strength unavailable to ordinary households 135.
• Civilian rescue doctrine: Fighter Army recruits are taught to prioritize saving civilians. Many soldiers were themselves rescued from monsters, reinforcing close bonds within the army 387.
• Battlefield discipline: At White Cloud City, Jiangnan’s troops maintain formation under poisoned arrow fire, supported by powerful ranged weapons and spellcasters 535.
• Siege equipment: Specialized devices and climbing implements allow First Rank soldiers to scale Tiannan Pass despite its unusually high, slippery walls 562.
• Command security: Xu Hu refuses a written withdrawal order without Chen Qing’s direct voice confirmation, recognizing that a forged order could remove Jiangnan’s strongest remaining army from its northern position 1112.

West Sea Forces

Tian Heng’s naval strength expands through Ao Zhen’s support, revived Dragon Palace personnel, and thousands of flood dragons. Flood-dragon blood and vital energy are refined into Blood Essence Stones, which help revive Dragon Palace guards 445.

• Faith-based growth: Resettled northerners worship Tian Heng after receiving assistance from the West Sea forces, rapidly increasing his divine resources 445.
• Aquatic integration: Aquatic followers report losing their craving for human flesh after joining the Divine Path faction and gaining new opportunities for advancement 769.
• Recovery limits: Powerful combatants such as Ao Zhen remain dependent on scarce Blood Essence Stones when operating away from sufficiently concentrated spiritual energy 752.

Defensive Formations

• Blazing Yang Grand Formation: Prevents the northern giant snakes from infiltrating Jiangnan and becomes its foremost defensive formation 368 804.
• Spatial rune stones: Academy students carry stones that allow them to deploy spatial barriers during combat 836.
• A Li’s deterrence: Her memory-altering ability is treated as a strategic trump card, but her physically vulnerable body makes exposing her dangerous 1039.
• Underworld fallback: The Underworld serves as Jiangnan’s final refuge if its mortal defenders fall 1081.

Society, Settlement, and the Underworld

Residents and Refugees

Jiangnan attracts merchants, scholars, wealthy households, and entire clans seeking security and education. Its soldiers enjoy unusually high benefits and social respect 445 1044.

However, residence does not immediately confer equal access to prosperity:

• Refugee relief: Northern refugees receive thick meat porridge, fine-flour buns, warm clothing, and shelter, but may lack land and employment 503.
• Local discrimination: Differences in appearance, accent, clothing, and household status produce prejudice against northerners 503.
• Westward settlement: Migrants to western islands are offered farmland, houses, three years of tax exemptions, and additional incentives 445.
• Unequal opportunities: Some refugees resist island resettlement because Jiangnan itself has better security, resources, climate, and schooling 503.
• Mission rewards: Chen Ying offers northern volunteers and their descendants Jiangnan household registration, housing, education, and farming land in exchange for a dangerous intelligence mission 503.
• Merchant families: Jiangnan opens an educational route previously denied to merchants’ descendants under Great Jin’s examination restrictions 503.

Afterlife Administration

Jiangnan’s dead can enter its administered Underworld rather than the Yin-Yang Road, and spirits can return to the mortal world 506.

• Border limitation: The Yunzhou Underworld cannot extend its rescue authority beyond Jiangnan’s border 523.
• Recognition of overseas service: Jiangnan residents stranded or killed outside the region receive underworld merit equivalent to fighters, a lifespan of at least fifty years, and benefits corresponding to fallen martyrs 523.
• City God selection: Outstanding civil officials may be selected to govern as City Gods, including in the newly conquered southeast 573.
• Reincarnation: Reincarnation is openly practiced and publicly understood. Returning soldiers have their past-life memories erased before beginning new lives 1031.

History

Liuzhou’s Collapse and Regional Crisis

Liuzhou’s flight of merchants, teachers, and wealthy households leaves Chen Qing with little foundation for rebuilding its economy. The disruption spreads across Jiangnan, obstructing trade and overcrowding other ports 43.

A subsequent supernatural crisis traps ships and troops in mist while the Azure Dragon Spell appears above Liuzhou. The Shen Family investigates the suspected regional formation, and imperial officials discover that thirty thousand troops, more than a hundred warships, and several warlocks cannot escape 76.

Living-corpse attacks strike all seven river prefectures. Nanyang initially repels the first wave through Shen Family formations, but the wider conflict nearly turns Jiangnan into a land of living corpses 87 818.

Consolidation and Conflict with the Court

Chen Qing builds local military strength and receives displaced commanders and soldiers, including Tian Heng’s followers. Jiangnan’s increasingly prosperous trade and grain supplies then make it both commercially indispensable and politically threatening 167 211 212.

The court attempts to remove Chen Qing by promoting him to a capital post, assigning Yuchi Peng temporary control of Liuzhou, and announcing fifty thousand reinforcements. Local opponents expect restored imperial rule to return authority to the scholar-gentry 217.

After Chen Qing captures Yuchi Peng, he offers to return him if the court halts its advance and attends talks in Nanming about an awakening ancient power. Minister Pang agrees to lead the delegation 238.

Dragon Palace Expansion

With Ao Zhen’s assistance, Jiangnan secures the West Sea and later occupies half the North Sea Dragon Palace. Northern rescue operations bring refugees, dragon-blood soldiers, and a vastly expanded faith base, while academy researchers begin adapting Dragon Palace technology 445.

Chen Qing’s prolonged absence nevertheless exposes the region’s political divisions. Officials respond to an imperial marriage provocation by arranging for A Li to impersonate him and bring Xiao Mingxue to Jiangnan 446.

Southeastern Campaign and External Recruitment

Jiangnan campaigns against Southern Barbarian forces in the southeast, advancing toward Tiannan Pass. The opposing nations assemble five hundred thousand troops, recognizing that losing the pass would end their opportunity to enter the Central Plains 553.

Later, Ziyue negotiates a three-year loan of five hundred thousand ordinary soldiers from Northern Yan. Jiangnan promises to purchase the recruits’ livestock at normal prices rather than leave their households to absorb the losses 663 665.

Internal Subversion and Buddhist Awakening

During the Celestial Master Assembly crisis, reports warn that someone within Jiangnan’s upper ranks has been turned. Wei Gongzhan and Murong Yunji choose Wei Gongcheng as the recipient of their limited warning message 762.

A later Buddhist awakening threatens both Jiangnan and its southeastern territories. Buddhist light changes officers’ personalities and can awaken past-life influences among soldiers. The crisis coincides with severe defensive losses: the Shen Family suffers mental injuries and cannot readily intervene 1037 1039.

Jiangnan’s high living standards slow the spread of active rebellion, as even tempted soldiers hesitate to jeopardize their families’ security. The Underworld’s defenders prepare to preserve a final refuge if the mortal region falls 1071 1081.

Heavenly Court Pressure

The Heavenly Court considers attacking Jiangnan with one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers, although its generals acknowledge the danger of the Blazing Yang Grand Formation. Attempts to draw Xu Hu’s Fighter Army away from its northern station fail when he refuses an unverified withdrawal order 1100 1112.