while waiting for the game Stellaris to reach a point of stability, I decided to pick up the ol' game of EU4 and give it a whirl again. This time I've made my custom Princedom, named Kunlun and it will be a blast. I've mainly written about Stellaris and this will be set in the same universe, to provide continuity.
Mod: Extended timeline. Those looking for serious gameplay issues will be disappointed, its more of a prolonged narrative.
Comments are welcome!
Deep in space, solar system 12356B
"Another Earth, again we must go on with this fruitless search"
"I hear ya, maybe the high command shouldn't be throwing valuable artefacts around like this"
"It's got time and space warp possibilities... just makes the job easier doesn't it"
"We might need to setup a surveillance space station... for the long haul"
<silence>
The grand history of Kunlun
Biography of Sui Gaozu
Emperor Sui Gaozu, personal name Yang Yong, curtesy name Yang Youde, was the founder of the Sui Dynasty. (Later Sui) Youde was born outside of the Middle Kingdom in a place named nation of Mei and was trained as a physician, specialising in the art of attending to births and labours. He had first appeared on the official records of the previous dynasty of Ming as a tribal medicine man, in the remote island of Da Yuan (Taiwan). He attended to the native Atayal and Bunon people and was said to have performed many magical baby deliveries, before he was crowned chief of the tribe. A learned scholar, he was able to introduce literature and art to the natives of Da Yuan. At this point he was about thirty of age. He attended to various designs of manufacture and industry, and improved the livelihoods of the people under his rule. He was instrumental in introducing agriculture to the tribesman.
After some years he encountered Han traders from the mainland, and was able to give an impressive account of himself, so much that the merchants paid for his trip to sit the next years official civil-servant examinations. He was said to be very wealthy after discovery of gold in the north eastern mountains of Da Yuan. After entrusting the village to his deputies, he left for the mainland for examinations, which took the better part of five years.
Upon being granted the Jinshi level of achievement, Youde asked for a post of Magistrate in Da Yuan, to the surprise of the Minister of Personnels, who believed that he should have aimed higher in the mainland. Nevertheless the request was granted, and he returned to Da Yuan with the backing of the imperial courts. He started in the northern county (Taibei) and assimilated the local tribesman, teaching them the Han ways of life, and agriculture. He increased the income of the tribesman by running a trade of precious stones and deer pelts, but also maintained strict conservation measures, thus sustaining the local deer population. He cracked down on dishonest Han merchants who attempted to sell the locals substandard wares. The people loved him and proclaimed that he was their "Azure Sky".
In the Year of the Earth Tiger (1399), the empire of Ming was in a great upheaval, the Emperor Jianwen, the grandson of the Dynasty's founder, Zhu Yuanzhang, was an indecisive, weak man. He had procrastinated too much in reducing the powers of the feudal lords, his uncles, and it came to a full rebellion. One of the uncles, the Prince of Yan, whose name is Zhu Di, used an obscure clause in the Ming code to declare war on the court, ostensibly to remove the evil ministers that the Emperor associated himself with. But that was just a pretense, for the prize is nothing else but the Imperial throne. Using the chaos to his advantage, Youde made diplomatic deals with the Han of Da Yuan and the native tribes to declare himself Marquis of Da Yuan, with suzerainty over all of the island. The Fujian governor turned a blind eye to this since his commanderies are ordered to march north to fight the pretender Prince of Yan, and could not respond to this bold attempt at power grab.
Chinese artefact depicting Supreme West Goddess
It is then Yang Youde revealed himself to be a Master of Kunlun, a practitioner of the Way. He said that he had left the monastery in the far west Kunlun Mountains, a paradise filled with god-like immortals and monstrous beasts, to find humility and experience amongst the mortals. So it was said, and so Youde claimed. He was able to perform feats that confirm this claim, such as travelling long distances in short amount of time, disappear into thin air, and also making proximal objects disappear and reappear. He was also a master healer, and could cure hopeless diseases. The veracity of such claims is left as an exercise for the reader. But it was a fact that he united the tribes of Taibei Municipality, and later all of Da Yuan, which he then renamed Taiwan.
Strangely he did not seek to glorify himself, or to spread the word of his Way. He was content to leave the religions of the locals, Han folk religion and animism intact. Instead, he taught the children literacy and numeracy, and practical instructions of daily life. He delegated and found Han scholars for the teaching job. During his leisure times he would associate with travellers from the mainland, exchanging information and stories. He was said to have the thousand league True Sight, which allowed him to predict the military movements of the Civil War. In time, he gathered a group of like-minded men, who helped with the construction of Taiwan. They spoke in a foreign dialect, and sometimes wrote in cryptic letters. Many of the correspondences are lost in time.
He was known to have possessed an artefact called the Ga Lai Chen, an object of incredible power. It is still stored in the Imperial Treasury, although it does appear to be a cube with no special attributes.
to be continued...
Mod: Extended timeline. Those looking for serious gameplay issues will be disappointed, its more of a prolonged narrative.
Comments are welcome!
Deep in space, solar system 12356B
"Another Earth, again we must go on with this fruitless search"
"I hear ya, maybe the high command shouldn't be throwing valuable artefacts around like this"
"It's got time and space warp possibilities... just makes the job easier doesn't it"
"We might need to setup a surveillance space station... for the long haul"
<silence>
The grand history of Kunlun
Biography of Sui Gaozu
Emperor Sui Gaozu, personal name Yang Yong, curtesy name Yang Youde, was the founder of the Sui Dynasty. (Later Sui) Youde was born outside of the Middle Kingdom in a place named nation of Mei and was trained as a physician, specialising in the art of attending to births and labours. He had first appeared on the official records of the previous dynasty of Ming as a tribal medicine man, in the remote island of Da Yuan (Taiwan). He attended to the native Atayal and Bunon people and was said to have performed many magical baby deliveries, before he was crowned chief of the tribe. A learned scholar, he was able to introduce literature and art to the natives of Da Yuan. At this point he was about thirty of age. He attended to various designs of manufacture and industry, and improved the livelihoods of the people under his rule. He was instrumental in introducing agriculture to the tribesman.
After some years he encountered Han traders from the mainland, and was able to give an impressive account of himself, so much that the merchants paid for his trip to sit the next years official civil-servant examinations. He was said to be very wealthy after discovery of gold in the north eastern mountains of Da Yuan. After entrusting the village to his deputies, he left for the mainland for examinations, which took the better part of five years.
Upon being granted the Jinshi level of achievement, Youde asked for a post of Magistrate in Da Yuan, to the surprise of the Minister of Personnels, who believed that he should have aimed higher in the mainland. Nevertheless the request was granted, and he returned to Da Yuan with the backing of the imperial courts. He started in the northern county (Taibei) and assimilated the local tribesman, teaching them the Han ways of life, and agriculture. He increased the income of the tribesman by running a trade of precious stones and deer pelts, but also maintained strict conservation measures, thus sustaining the local deer population. He cracked down on dishonest Han merchants who attempted to sell the locals substandard wares. The people loved him and proclaimed that he was their "Azure Sky".
In the Year of the Earth Tiger (1399), the empire of Ming was in a great upheaval, the Emperor Jianwen, the grandson of the Dynasty's founder, Zhu Yuanzhang, was an indecisive, weak man. He had procrastinated too much in reducing the powers of the feudal lords, his uncles, and it came to a full rebellion. One of the uncles, the Prince of Yan, whose name is Zhu Di, used an obscure clause in the Ming code to declare war on the court, ostensibly to remove the evil ministers that the Emperor associated himself with. But that was just a pretense, for the prize is nothing else but the Imperial throne. Using the chaos to his advantage, Youde made diplomatic deals with the Han of Da Yuan and the native tribes to declare himself Marquis of Da Yuan, with suzerainty over all of the island. The Fujian governor turned a blind eye to this since his commanderies are ordered to march north to fight the pretender Prince of Yan, and could not respond to this bold attempt at power grab.
Chinese artefact depicting Supreme West Goddess
It is then Yang Youde revealed himself to be a Master of Kunlun, a practitioner of the Way. He said that he had left the monastery in the far west Kunlun Mountains, a paradise filled with god-like immortals and monstrous beasts, to find humility and experience amongst the mortals. So it was said, and so Youde claimed. He was able to perform feats that confirm this claim, such as travelling long distances in short amount of time, disappear into thin air, and also making proximal objects disappear and reappear. He was also a master healer, and could cure hopeless diseases. The veracity of such claims is left as an exercise for the reader. But it was a fact that he united the tribes of Taibei Municipality, and later all of Da Yuan, which he then renamed Taiwan.
Strangely he did not seek to glorify himself, or to spread the word of his Way. He was content to leave the religions of the locals, Han folk religion and animism intact. Instead, he taught the children literacy and numeracy, and practical instructions of daily life. He delegated and found Han scholars for the teaching job. During his leisure times he would associate with travellers from the mainland, exchanging information and stories. He was said to have the thousand league True Sight, which allowed him to predict the military movements of the Civil War. In time, he gathered a group of like-minded men, who helped with the construction of Taiwan. They spoke in a foreign dialect, and sometimes wrote in cryptic letters. Many of the correspondences are lost in time.
He was known to have possessed an artefact called the Ga Lai Chen, an object of incredible power. It is still stored in the Imperial Treasury, although it does appear to be a cube with no special attributes.
to be continued...
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