Jiang Kingdom

Biodata

Power Progression

The kingdom's ranked power is its national strength, which sustains divine protection and, after Fang Weiyan's investiture, contributes directly to his power as a Human Sovereign 63 179.

• Further growth: National strength continued increasing afterward, strengthening Fang Weiyan and the golden dragon surrounding him. Blue and purple remained future prospects rather than documented achievements 177 179.

History

Origins and Lost Human Sovereign Knowledge

The population's predecessors fled to the region after the defeat of their branch of humanity. Their leader relinquished his Human Sovereign status to prevent enemies from tracking his aura and burned the relevant texts. Court turmoil and subsequent dynastic changes reduced knowledge of Human Sovereigns to rumor among the Jiang imperial family 95.

Great Qian's investigation identified this earlier state as the Li Kingdom, associated with the Human Sovereign of Great Li. Two subsequent dynastic changes eventually produced the Jiang Kingdom 160.

Decline under Emperor Kaide

By its 218th year, the dynasty was deteriorating. Poverty reduced the people's incense offerings, weakening City Gods and other divine protectors. Increasing demonic attacks then worsened living conditions, creating a cycle of declining national strength and diminishing protection 5 63 149.

The court also lost its former authority over the Dragon King of the Wu River. Once strong enough to suppress him through the ritually bestowed name Zhenjiang City, the kingdom eventually negotiated a settlement and renamed the city Pingshui City after he disrupted shipping and nearly flooded it 12.

The aging Emperor Kaide sought a capable successor who could protect both the kingdom and his daughter. Reports of Fang Weiyan's administration in Linbei County drew his attention, leading him to summon Fang and later appoint him governor of Jiangling Commandery 52 63 76.

Conspiracy and Succession

Court factions diverted tax revenue and blamed the Dragon King, attempting to provoke a war that would exhaust the kingdom's remaining strength. Their attempt to kill the Dragon King's child and trigger the flooding of Pingjiang City failed after Fang Weiyan saved the child 93 96.

The conspirators subsequently prepared to seize Yanhuai City. When rebellion broke out, Fang Weiyan dispatched his forces to relieve the capital, supported by the Dragon King and Tao Lingluo 113 117 118.

With the rebellion quelled, Emperor Kaide entrusted his daughter and the kingdom to Fang Weiyan before dying. Princess Jin'an acknowledged Fang's authority, and he assumed responsibility for the surrendered troops, arrested ringleaders, and restoration of order 120 121.

Restoration and Human Sovereign Investiture

Fang Weiyan inherited an empty treasury, substantial debts, and an administration still containing disloyal officials. His agricultural, fiscal, and administrative reforms reversed the kingdom's decline within months 121 133.

He later received Heaven's investiture as a Human Sovereign on Mount Kunxu. Upon his return, the kingdom's fortune gathered around him, manifesting as a golden five-clawed dragon whose roar resounded throughout the realm 137.

Geography and Settlements

• Regional isolation: Demon-occupied mountain ranges had effectively cut the Jiang Kingdom off from other dynasties. These ranges also contained valuable mineral resources 151.
• Uneven recovery: Early foreign visitors encountered ruined border walls despite finding disciplined guards and well-built roads farther inside the kingdom 147 148.

Government and Administration

Rulers and Institutions

• Emperor Kaide — The preceding ruler. He recognized Fang Weiyan's administrative ability, entrusted him with Jiangling Commandery, and designated him successor 76 120.
• Fang Weiyan — Rules through the imperial court while supplying the kingdom with funds, provisions, technology, and equipment from Earth 121 128 163.
• Yunxi / Princess Jin'an — Oversees the Underworld Administration's branches throughout the kingdom, including incense distribution and reports of demonic activity 133 161.
• Ministry of Personnel — Ordered to recruit scholars for examinations, with their travel expenses covered by the ruler; later assigned recurring random safety inspections 121 188.
• Ministry of Revenue — Reports on state debts and regional funding requests 121 188.
• Ministry of Works — Handles industrial construction, mineral surveys, and canal planning 143 154 163 188.
• Ministry of Rites — Publicizes imperial policies and notices, including promises of improved living conditions and preparations for currency reform 134 139.

Administrative Reforms

• Tax relief: Fang Weiyan abolished farmers' taxes and corvée labor nationwide while temporarily retaining merchant taxes 121.
• Replacement officials: Newly dispatched scholars gained administrative experience, providing personnel who could replace corrupt local officials without leaving their jurisdictions ungoverned 133.
• Investigating corruption: Lan Mengke became inspecting commissioner, empowered to investigate officials and gentry and execute offenders when allegations were proven 133.
• Protection against concealed crimes: Investigations targeted officials and landowners who murdered victims, seized land, or bribed runners to blame deaths on demons 133.
• Workplace safety: Fatal factory and shipping accidents led to orders for investigations, punishment, and random inspections several times each year 188.

Economy and Infrastructure

Agriculture and Food Security

• High-yield crops: Fang Weiyan introduced corn, potatoes, and other crops to increase food production 121.
• National harvest: Combined grain production exceeded one trillion jin, enough to feed the kingdom's approximately thirty million people for a year 131.
• Affordable food: Fang ordered nationwide grain-price reductions after the bumper harvest. The kingdom no longer needed grain shipments from Earth 131.
• Relief operations: Before his accession, Fang organized tens of thousands of flatbreads, distribution boats, and shelters for refugees despite crossing jurisdictional boundaries 103.
• Foreign interest: Reports of corn and sweet potatoes yielding nearly ten thousand jin per mu prompted Great Qian's ruler to test seeds obtained by a spy 163 164.

Treasury and Currency

Industry and Transport

• Cement roads: Smooth, durable roads substantially reduced the discomfort of carriage travel and became a major attraction for foreign buyers 149 154 177.
• Water transport: Fang ordered inexpensive, easy-to-operate vessels for the kingdom's waterways 128.
• Steel production: Earth-supplied equipment enabled a new smelting plant to replace low-output workshops producing inferior iron 163 164.
• Steel quality: A Jiang steel sample broke a guard's hundred-refined steel saber without receiving a scratch, alarming the Zhou delegation 183.
• Mineral surveys: Fang ordered a fresh survey because existing mineral records dated from the previous dynasty 143.
• Canal construction: He planned a river route around drought relief, transport, bridges, and economic development, then used his river-containing jade bottle to fill the prepared riverbed after the bridges were completed 143 188.
• Industrial corridor: A power station and factories were discussed as developments along the canal route 188.

Military and Supernatural Defense

Army

• Strength and command: The kingdom's two hundred thousand soldiers were recalled and placed under Lin Liyun, who installed trusted officers and trained them using Fang Weiyan's manual 128.
• Early modern equipment: Preparations for relieving Yanhuai City included riot shields, incendiaries, catapults, boats, and dry rations 115.
• Firearms: Fang later imported rifles, heavy machine guns, Gatling-type guns, and ammunition from Earth. The kingdom could not yet manufacture this equipment itself 163.
• Morale: Soldiers explicitly connected their loyalty to the emperor's disaster relief, better housing, improved family incomes, and reliable meals 173.
• Recruitment: Further recruitment attracted volunteers even after improved living conditions reduced the need to enlist merely for food and pay 179.

Divine Protection and National Power

• Incense support: Prosperous inhabitants provide better incense offerings, allowing local Yin Gods to recover and discouraging demonic incursions 133.
• Earlier breakdown: During the decline, officials were repeatedly killed while traveling to their posts. The court eventually stopped sending officials to Linbei County after successive groups died en route 130.
• Imperial edicts: Fang's Heaven-bestowed imperial seal allows edicts to carry national power, suppressing demons so ordinary soldiers can kill them 138.
• Limits: Such edicts consume national power and cannot be used recklessly. Fang's Human Sovereign Qi likewise recovers as the kingdom grows stronger 138 139.
• Elite defenders: Weiwei and her Mountain Spirit clanswomen provide Flower Blooming Realm combatants, supplementing the kingdom's comparatively limited Yin God forces 145 175 179.

Land of Ten Thousand Witherings

• Threat: A Human Sovereign's appearance draws a passage connected to this hostile realm. If its creatures break through, they first descend upon that sovereign's dynasty 161.
• Fortifications: Fang sent soldiers and construction materials through the passage, eventually establishing complete defensive walls around the Jiang position 169 175.
• Initial success: Lin Liyun's forces repelled the first assault without deaths; the reported injury was a single burn 173.
• Firearm limitation: Bullets devastated corporeal undead attackers but could not harm incorporeal Yin Gods, leaving supernatural defenders essential 173 175.
• Reinforcements: Tao Lingluo, strengthened Yin Gods, and additional Flower Blooming Realm Mountain Spirits reinforced the defense. The kingdom's elite forces became concentrated at the passage 179.

Foreign Relations

• Dragon King of the Wu River — Formerly suppressed by the kingdom and later a source of conflict. After Fang saved his son, he helped relieve Yanhuai City's siege and advised Fang about Human Sovereigns and external threats 12 118 121 161.
• Great Zhou, Great Liang, Jin, and other visiting kingdoms — Sent congratulatory delegations seeking trade, vassalage, and help clearing resource-rich demon territories. Fang rejected their proposed submission but welcomed trade and announced that Jiang would eliminate demons in the intervening ranges 151 154.
• Wu Kingdom — Secured a trade agreement and planned treasury-funded purchases of Jiang goods, especially cement 177.
• Zhou Kingdom / Princess Liu Yun — Sought inexpensive grain and considered steel purchases. Jiang's steel quality, food supply, and popular loyalty raised fears of military inferiority 180 183.
• Great Qian — Investigated Fang's origins and rapid rise through spies, then obtained high-yield crop seeds for testing 160 163 164.
• Empress Wanxi — Took an interest in Jiang's agricultural yields and sent Fang a warning about opening the passage into the Land of Ten Thousand Witherings early 169.
• Heavenly Dew Mountain's demons — Submitted after Weiwei killed the Mountain Lord. Fang's stated policy allowed demons to remain if they ceased threatening people within Jiang territory 157.