The Ministry of War

It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperilled in every single battle.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War

The Ministry of War, or to give it its full title The Ministry for the Martial Chastisement of the Unrighteous Foes of the Dragon Throne, is charged with the defence of the Middle Kingdom. The most important division within the ministry is between the Imperial Army and the long-neglected Imperial Navy, though there are many smaller bureaus such as the Diviners or Surgeons that serve both forces.

Although the Ministry of War chiefly concerns itself with fighting it is not a department solely of warriors. An army is a voracious beast that consumes all the food and wood in range, and it is well known that a hungry army is less capable of loyalty than even the lowest beast. It is the job of the ministry's bureaucrats to ensure that every soldier receives her allowance of rice and wine and her pay in silver coins. Similarly an army upon the march requires the favour of the gods and no man prays harder than the one who wishes to see the falling fire arrow fall somewhere else. Many priests are seconded from the Imperial Priesthood and those that earn a rank in the army often find their loyalty is first to the soldiers or sailors who have fought for their lives.

The Imperial Army is divided into six divisions: one for each of the points of the compass, one for the centre and finally the Emperor's own personal household force. The least prestigious posting is to the small western Army of the White Tiger, a force which is now largely hereditary. For generations the most prestigious posting has been to the Emperor's personal guard, from whence many have caught the Emperor's eye and become Honourable Companions. But the truly ambitious favour the northern Army of the Black Tortoise in which promotion is rapid, heroism is honoured, and combat frequent.

Most soldiers of the Imperial Army are issued a shield and either a bow or spear, with about one in five of the common troops armed with a sword instead. Gunpowder weapons have long been common in the armies of the Dragon Throne, with sophisticated rockets used in sieges and battles and bronze cannon fielded by the Imperial Artillery. Within the last few decades units armed with matchlock muskets have all but replaced crossbows and are becoming common enough to replace some archers. A few officers supplement their swords with pistols.

The Imperial Army employs a legion of diviners, all dedicated to foretelling the future in order to predict the actions of the enemy and advise the best possible strategies to their allies. That some do so by dressing in clothes that are as white as the snows of the northern mountains and from frosty vantages watch the movements of troops in the passes, and others track the motion of the stars or toss yarrow stalks is simply a slight difference in technique. Certainly it is true that some generals favour reports from the scouts over the knowledge won from the pattern of cracks in tortoise shells, but then many men favour gold trim over sable upon their cloaks.

Not truly a bureau of its own, the reputation of the army's horsemen is very different to that of the rest of the Imperial Army. Amongst the populace they are known for their dashing élan and it is said many a wife has found her husband missing in the morning, run off with the handsome visiting cavalry officer. Certainly the cavalry dominates the poems and adventure novels written about the Imperial Army.

To feed a horse takes money, more silver than a cavalry man has received in salary for the last hundred years. To be in the cavalry then, a woman must be either wealthy or corrupt or both. The cavalry dresses in the finest of clothes, often setting the fashion on the edges of the empire, and dines on the rarest of delicacies when the infantry are sick of mouldy rice. This would be enough to earn them the common soldiers hatred, but they are far from famed for their bravery - it is said only the Ch'in cavalry in retreat is swifter than the devil horsemen of the northern steppes. Of course a few famous units try to live up to the poems and are famed for their bravery and the speed at which they must recruit.

It is the rule in war, if ten times the enemy's strength, surround them; if five times, attack them; if double, be able to divide them; if equal, engage them; if fewer, be able to evade them; if weaker, be able to avoid them.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War

The Imperial Navy has been in continuous decline since the end of the last civil war and the reunification of Chi'in. After the great naval Battle of the Lake of the Yellow Cliffs and the punitive expeditions against the vassal kings of the south, there were no significant wars to be fought and the Imperial Navy was reduced to chasing smugglers and rescuing fishermen. Now the trading ships of the Ankytherine Republic tower over the ancient and decrepit ships of the Navy, and the admirals must swallow the bitter truth that if even half the rumours of the strange war machines that lie hidden in the hold of the foreign devils are true then battle would be suicide for the servants of the Dragon Throne.

It is said that the fastest way to fight the Imperial Army is not to invade Ch'in, but to insult a Surgeon. Despite this the standing of the Surgeons is mixed; most Surgeons are far from honourable and came to the army because of some disgrace or misconduct whilst practising medicine. Outside the army doctors consider being called a Surgeon the gravest of insults. However, for the most serious of injuries even the Emperor may consult a Surgeon for their expertise in curing wounds is without compare. Even in the army few will risk troubling them for lesser conditions lest one emerge from treatment for headaches with chi so unbalanced that one may never drink alcohol again. Amongst the Honourable Fellowship such cures are considered the finest of jests.

Even Admiral Min will admit to being paranoid, but her many detractors will add credulous and superstitious. The admiral has twice been banned from the Imperial Palace for her wild (but unfortunately repetitiously boring) allegations that the Empire is under threat from the seas. A common joke is that it is not the Fleet that is Unrelenting but Min. The Indomitable College of Generals has hardly been supportive of its only admiral, all too aware that any silver found to build the fleet Min thinks necessary is likely to come from the armies that truly defend Ch'in.

It is said that Man Li was raised by wolves, that he learned words unseen on the eaves of remote settlements carried by eagles, and that he was taught to move silently through the frozen forests of the north and the foetid jungles of the south by the fox and snake in return for their lives. Others say that his mother is a merchant and his father a school teacher and that he sends them letters and silver as faithfully as any filial son should.

Chief amongst the Surgeons of the forces of the Imperial Household, Song is renowned as a man not to be crossed. A fearsome duelist, it is said he became a Surgeon simply because he loved removing limbs too much, and the population of the capital had become too cautious and meek to offer him insults and thus duels. It is certainly true that he seems more eager to fight than to heal, but an oath sworn on the Imperial Seal requires that he must seek and accept the first apology for any slight.