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Zhu Bolin: Difference between revisions
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| nickname = ''Child Admiral'' | | nickname = ''Child Admiral''<br>''Victor of the Crag'' | ||
| allegiance = [[File:Daxiaia_Flag.png|25px]] [[Daxia|Qian dynasty]] | | allegiance = [[File:Daxiaia_Flag.png|25px]] [[Daxia|Qian dynasty]] | ||
| branch = [[Daxian Armed Forces|Qian Fleet]] | | branch = [[Daxian Armed Forces|Qian Fleet]] | ||
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The ''Flowing Majesty'' participated in various skirmishes around the island of [[Zhijun]] and later was part of the squadron under the command of Admiral [[Xi Haifong]] that bombarded the capital of the kingdom of Taualai in [[Peratra]]. Zhu Bolin supervised the keelhauling of fifteen polynesian nobles as part of the punishment of Taualai's ruling elites. During the return trip to the mainland, the fleet entered a violent sea storm in which one of the ships was sunk. Zhu Bolin's captain also seemingly fell into the sea during the storm and could not be rescued, giving Bolin an impromptu promotion to captain. Some uncharitable chroniclers of the era ascribe the captain's death to Zhu Bolin and 'the unnatural greed and ambition that is at the core of all dwarfs and eunuchs'. The ultimate cause of his superior's untimely demise remains shrouded in mystery, it cannot be disputed that Zhu Bolin's command of the ''Flowing Majesty'' allowed him to gain prestige and notoriety that a mere Vice Captain could not hope to achieve. | The ''Flowing Majesty'' participated in various skirmishes around the island of [[Zhijun]] and later was part of the squadron under the command of Admiral [[Xi Haifong]] that bombarded the capital of the kingdom of Taualai in [[Peratra]]. Zhu Bolin supervised the keelhauling of fifteen polynesian nobles as part of the punishment of Taualai's ruling elites. During the return trip to the mainland, the fleet entered a violent sea storm in which one of the ships was sunk. Zhu Bolin's captain also seemingly fell into the sea during the storm and could not be rescued, giving Bolin an impromptu promotion to captain. Some uncharitable chroniclers of the era ascribe the captain's death to Zhu Bolin and 'the unnatural greed and ambition that is at the core of all dwarfs and eunuchs'. The ultimate cause of his superior's untimely demise remains shrouded in mystery, it cannot be disputed that Zhu Bolin's command of the ''Flowing Majesty'' allowed him to gain prestige and notoriety that a mere Vice Captain could not hope to achieve. | ||
===Captain of the Flowing Majesty=== | ===Captain of the Flowing Majesty=== | ||
Zhu Bolin's assumption of command was ratified by [[Xi Haifong]] and his ship was assigned to [[Port Bondor]] as its operational base. In 1640 Zhu Bolin was ordered to take his ship and two others on a raiding mission to [[Sudmoll]]. The polynesian natives of the then uncolonized island were sending scaveging parties and raiders to the coast of [[Stenza|Yaoyuan]] and causing trouble to tribes that had submitted to the [[Daxia|Qian]]. Zhu Bolin's taskforce bombarded eleven coastal villages before landing their crews and attacking further inland. One hundred and forty two natives were taken as slaves, including two of the islands chiefs. A rare polynesian albino dwarf was also captured, Zhu Bolin named him Mala Jong and made him into his personal servant and cupbearer. Bolin's forceful and swift redress of the [[Sudmoll]] situation won him plaudits back at the imperial court and rivals of [[Xi Haifong]] took note of the young and diminutive captain as a potential replacement of the old admiral. Bolin outwardly kept faith with his superior but rumormongers of the era affirmed that while in his cups he mocked the old admiral and boasted he would be named admiral within a couple years, giving credence to the old whispers about ambitious and crafty dwarfs. In any case the expected showdown did not come to pass, [[Xi Haifong]] died in [[Rakahanga|Rakin]] on an infected ulcer before he could marshal his allies in court to try and cut Zhu Bolin's career short. | Zhu Bolin's assumption of command was ratified by [[Xi Haifong]] and his ship was assigned to [[Port Bondor]] as its operational base. In 1640 Zhu Bolin was ordered to take his ship and two others on a raiding mission to [[Sudmoll]]. The polynesian natives of the then uncolonized island were sending scaveging parties and raiders to the coast of [[Stenza|Yaoyuan]] and causing trouble to tribes that had submitted to the [[Daxia|Qian]]. Zhu Bolin's taskforce bombarded eleven coastal villages before landing their crews and attacking further inland. One hundred and forty two natives were taken as slaves, including two of the islands chiefs. A rare polynesian albino dwarf was also captured, Zhu Bolin named him [[Mala Jong]] and made him into his personal servant and cupbearer. Bolin's forceful and swift redress of the [[Sudmoll]] situation won him plaudits back at the imperial court and rivals of [[Xi Haifong]] took note of the young and diminutive captain as a potential replacement of the old admiral. Bolin outwardly kept faith with his superior but rumormongers of the era affirmed that while in his cups he mocked the old admiral and boasted he would be named admiral within a couple years, giving credence to the old whispers about ambitious and crafty dwarfs. In any case the expected showdown did not come to pass, [[Xi Haifong]] died in [[Rakahanga|Rakin]] on an infected ulcer before he could marshal his allies in court to try and cut Zhu Bolin's career short. | ||
Bolin immediately did something that was considered quite scandalous but the societal norms of the time, he seized [[Xi Haifong]]'s estate and used the money in secret, to bribe officials at court to secure a promotion for himself. The bold bid worked and he was appointed Admiral of the Southern Waste in 1650, a dizzyingly fast pace of promotion from Vice Captain to Admiral in a mere twelve years; Zhu Bolin was at this time only 35 years old and the youngest admiral in the Qian fleets. His bought title however brought him not only prestige but also danger, many distrusted him for his youth, lack of qualms and now evident corrupt nature. Moreover the friends of [[Xi Haifong]] at court were now Bolin's enemies and would constantly seek to cast him down for the rest of his naval career. It was after his promotion that Zhu Bolin began to be derisively called the''Child Admiral'', but never to his face. The new admiral continued his career for the next eleven years supporting the growing encroachments of [[Daxia]] on [[Peratra]], combatting Bergendii and [[Kirav]]ian piracy and protecting the [[Southern slave trade]] from which he also personally profited. | Bolin immediately did something that was considered quite scandalous but the societal norms of the time, he seized [[Xi Haifong]]'s estate and used the money in secret, to bribe officials at court to secure a promotion for himself. The bold bid worked and he was appointed Admiral of the Southern Waste in 1650, a dizzyingly fast pace of promotion from Vice Captain to Admiral in a mere twelve years; Zhu Bolin was at this time only 35 years old and the youngest admiral in the Qian fleets. His bought title however brought him not only prestige but also danger, many distrusted him for his youth, lack of qualms and now evident corrupt nature. Moreover the friends of [[Xi Haifong]] at court were now Bolin's enemies and would constantly seek to cast him down for the rest of his naval career. It was after his promotion that Zhu Bolin began to be derisively called the''Child Admiral'', but never to his face. The new admiral continued his career for the next eleven years supporting the growing encroachments of [[Daxia]] on [[Peratra]], combatting Bergendii and [[Kirav]]ian piracy and protecting the [[Southern slave trade]] from which he also personally profited. | ||
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He still had currency with some of his former allies, he could still bribe people with money from secret stashes he had managed to hide. While to all appearances he was a lowly gardener, he had built a network of eunuchs working and reporting news and whispers back to him; be it what concubines and prostitutes were the ministers having sex with to who was stealing food from the kitchens. In 1668 the Xiaodan emperor carried out a purge of the court, sweeping many of Zhu Bolin's strongest detractors to their deaths. The former admiral was plucked again from obscurity and restored to his old responsibilities. Zhu Bolin carried out his own purge of his enemies and fair weather friends, one of the first to go was the High Gardener under whom he had served in the [[Imperial Lemon Grove]]; the man was reportedly thrown down a well. Several officials who had betrayed him by taking bribes from him but refusing to help him were found strangled or stabbed in empty corridors of the palace. Once more historians of the time put the blame for the murders squarely on the 'Bloody Dwarf' but it is just as likely that they were the result of different factional struggles or other unrelated reasons. | He still had currency with some of his former allies, he could still bribe people with money from secret stashes he had managed to hide. While to all appearances he was a lowly gardener, he had built a network of eunuchs working and reporting news and whispers back to him; be it what concubines and prostitutes were the ministers having sex with to who was stealing food from the kitchens. In 1668 the Xiaodan emperor carried out a purge of the court, sweeping many of Zhu Bolin's strongest detractors to their deaths. The former admiral was plucked again from obscurity and restored to his old responsibilities. Zhu Bolin carried out his own purge of his enemies and fair weather friends, one of the first to go was the High Gardener under whom he had served in the [[Imperial Lemon Grove]]; the man was reportedly thrown down a well. Several officials who had betrayed him by taking bribes from him but refusing to help him were found strangled or stabbed in empty corridors of the palace. Once more historians of the time put the blame for the murders squarely on the 'Bloody Dwarf' but it is just as likely that they were the result of different factional struggles or other unrelated reasons. | ||
===War of the Eastern Crag=== | ===War of the Eastern Crag=== | ||
The naval skills of the Child Admiral were soon called upon when a | [[File:Battle of Daxiang.jpg|thumb|The battle of Daxiang between Qian forces and the Arakan coalition]] | ||
The naval skills of the Child Admiral were soon called upon when a rebellion erupted in eastern [[Stenza|Yaoyuan]] that threatened to cut the territory controlled by the Qian colonies in half. In response Zhu's restored fleet ferried an army of fifty thousand men to [[Peratra]] within two months. Judging that a display of courageous resolve would help his battered reputation much, he opted to leave his fleet anchored safely in the northern coast and lead his crews to fight on land alongside the army. The commander of the army, the Marquis of Shenbao disliked the dwarf but since they belonged to separate military arms, he had no authority to order Zhu Bolin and his forces away. The war against the Arakan coalition was fought deep in the jungles of the [[Peratra]]n interior and near the mountainous Eastern Crag against elusive foes who also had access to a small arsenal of firearms probably procured from [[Farmandie]] or [[Burgundie]]. Under the harsh jungle conditions, the authority of Marquis Shenbao was constantly challenged by Zhu Bolin who more deviously preserved his own troops in most engagements. Zhu's more extreme tactics also found echo with the common soldiery; he proposed starting massive fires to force the enemy to escape into the open and taking whole villages hostage to force the enemy to surrender. | |||
Things came to a head during a military conference where according to sources the Marquis insulted Zhu Bolin's physical stature and threw an orange at him, the admiral in turn pulled a flintlock pistol from his coat and shot the Marquis on the head. With this murderous interaction, Zhu Bolin asserted his claim to lead the entire army, seemingly no one opposed this development as chronicles of the rest of the war mention the dwarf as being in command of Qian forces. The killing of the Marquis might be a shocking event to modern viewers but through the lens of the time, the military system of the Qian dynasty was one of distrust and competition between commanders. Historical sources sometimes mention 'the war within the war' in reference to internal conflict between Qian general that often spiraled out of control and into bloodshed; sometimes victory for the Qian came through sheer overwhelming numbers and firepower rather than superb tactics and attention to military planners from generals more concerned with humiliating their contemporaries. While Zhu Bolin never received official sanction for this incident of 'friendly fire' he did make lifelong enemies of the Shenbao clan, another group who turned into his dogged detractors. Now in command Zhu took the war to new levels of brutality, he liked to say that 'while the Arakan might be as resilient as a rock, I will still squeeze blood from it'. True to his word he increased the reprisals and thievery against uninvolved civilians to goad the Arakan forces to give open battle. | |||
The stratagem worked as the Arakan massed their forces in the slopes of the Eastern Crag and sent messengers to challenge him to approach, as was their custom. Zhu Bolin had the messengers killed and decapitated, tying their heads to their horses and sending them back. The Arakan had their backs to the Crag so retreat would not be easily accomplished other than through narrow and winding tunnels on the mountainside. The Qian army only had four cannons left, the rest had been lost to the jungle, the mud and rust; still they were put to good use now with the cannons being loaded with grapeshot. The Arakan army suffered terrible casualties from the grapeshot but charged across the broken terrain to come to grips with the [[Daxia]]ns. As the battle lines smashed together, the mass of eighty thousand Arakan tribesmen threatened to buckle the smaller [[Daxia]]n frontline. Zhu then unleashed his cannons again and directed them to fire against the back of the enemy lines to obstruct a retreat over the piling bodies of the dead. The Qian battle elephants painstakingly dragged along all of [[Peratra]] were now put to use alongside the kennel of domesticated war hyaenas, creatures the Arakan had never seen before and against which they now quaked. The frenetic baying of the hyaenas especially unnerved the Arakan and the noise of the cannons and the elephants began to cause a panicked rout. From the Qian side thundered the trumpets calling for a general advance and the Arakan were chased back to the ridge they had started at, stumbling over the bodies of the dead. The army began trying to squeeze itself away through the tunnels with the Qian in pursuit. Zhu Bolin himself descended into the caves on foot and exhausting fighting in the caves took place until nightfall. The battle of Daxiang can be said to have had two phases, the first battle on the plain and the second one in the caves of the Crag. The Arakan rallied several times out of desperation and lacking avenues of real escape through dark tunnels, entire groups of men getting lost never to be seen again or falling to their deaths in unseen sudden drops and frigid pools. Zhu Bolin's hyaenas were put to good use smelling out the Arakan and savaging them to pieces until finally two entire days later those Arakan who had not managed to escape surrendered to the Qian force. | |||
The Arakan tribes were exhausted from the war and were offered fairly lenient terms, Zhu Bolin demanded the restoration of [[Tributary system of Imperial Daxia|tribute]] by the Arakan, the turning over of any firearms they still possessed and the surrender of hostages from every tribe; those Arakan taken prisoner in the course of the war would not be released, they would be sold as slaves instead. In a show of what he called 'Daxian magnanimity' Zhu Bolin even forwent taking the rebel chiefs to [[Rakahanga|Rakin]] and parading them before the populace so there would be 'no hard feelings'. Zhu Bolin was hailed as the ''Victor of the Crag'' and savior of the colonies on [[Peratra]]. Having covered himself in glory, Zhu Bolin returned to the imperial court in 1675, now an aging dwarf of sixty in poor health. He petitioned to be allowed to retire in his birthplace of [[Touxian]] with the hereditary rank of Baron of [[Touxian]], a request that was quickly granted; the high courtiers judged it better to give the ambitious dwarf a title in the poor interior rather than a position on the rich colonies. | |||
===Later life=== | ===Later life=== | ||
[[File:A32.jpg|thumb|Painting of the Cloud Palace of [[Touxian]]]] | |||
As he claimed at court, Zhu Bolin in effect retired to [[Touxian]] and used his fortune to build himself a magnificent abode in the town that he named the Cloud Palace, most of the structure was made of highly ornate marble and the roofs were covered in light blue lapis giving it a celestial look. He lived there alone with [[Mala Jong]] and his many other slaves, his status as an eunuch made having a wife a pointless endeavor. During the last years of his life, the eunuch baron dedicated his time and resources to turning [[Touxian]] into a prosperous merchant town. He funded the construction of sanitation facilities such as bathhouses, cesspits and outhouses. The streets of downtown Touxian were laid with brick and mortar instead of packed dirt, greatly reducing respiratory diseases in the population. He brought hardy quince trees from [[Peratra]] which took easily in the climate of the region, the production of quince quickly paid handsome dividends to the city. To this day the city is home to numerous companies producing quince fruit brandy and quince paste candies, the Touxian Quince Pie recipe was invented in the city. | |||
Zhu's lack of children put the future of his titles in uncertainty of who could inherit them. He decided against seeking out any living relatives of his, reasoning that strangers he had no connection with had no right to his wealth and position. Instead he decided on a very controversial option, he freed his dwarf manservant, the albino eunuch [[Mala Jong]] and then, through a very large bribe had him officialy declared a Daxian. He then adopted him as his lawful son and heir. Zhu Bolin died in 1682 from an overgrown boil in his head, the line of dwarf barons of [[Touxian]] would continue uninterrupted for another 250 years. | |||
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