Sometimes I am more interested in candidates other than the founding emperors.
Here are my personal recommends:
-
Chinese: Yue Fei
-
Jurchens: Wuzhu
He was the fourth son of Aguda, the founder of the Jin Dynasty. Together with his elder brother Wolibu, the second son of Aguda, he almost succeeded in ambushing the Liao emperor while the Liao emperor was out hunting, and later joined Wolibu’s army to invade the Song. After Wolibu’s death, he took over the army, became the Jurchens’ marshal and commender-in-chief and led the pursuit southwards, fighting against Yue Fei. Wuzhu is famous as the arch-villain in Yue Fei’s story in Chinese folklore and literature. It would be a meaningful choice when Yue Fei is the Chinese campaign. -
Khitans: Xiao Yanyan
She was the mother of Emperor Shengzong, the emperor during the most prosperous period of the Liao Dynasty. When Shengzong was young, the Queen Mother personally took charge of the government, laid the foundation for the prosperity of the empire, and personally led the army into battle as a woman. Her story can include facing the Song invasions, conquering Jeongan (the successor state of Balhae), invading Song with grown-up Shengzong, and Shengzong invading Goryeo (Korea) on the strength of her legacy. -
Tanguts (potential): Yuanhao
He was the founding emperor of Xi Xia. When he was the prince of the Tangut state, he had fought against the Uyghurs, the Chinese and Sogdians from the Guiyi Circuit, and the Tibetans. After ascending the throne, he reformed the state, establishing a completely independent empire, launching a multi-year war agains Song, and repelling the Khitan invaders from Liao. He won a costly victory, before killed by his own son.
The story of Wuzhu and the story of Yue Fei could be narrated continuously by a Jurchen captain, descendant of a Wuzhu’s trooper, to a Han recruit of his in the Jin army camp on the eve of the battle against the Mongols, which would present the fierce battles between Wuzhu and Yue Fei, between Jin and Song, and present the Song’s two betrayals of their nothern allies when new conquerors emerged.
The story of Xiao Yanyan and the story of Yuanhao could be narrated respectively by their sons, which would form a sharp contrast about the parent-child relationship.
Last year, I had created a topic about the concepts of Central and East Asian DLCs which included the campaigns for Tibetans, Gokturks, Sogdians, Khitans, Jurchens and Chinese (lacking Tanguts), and a topic about the concept of a Asian historical scenarios-only DLC which included the campaigns for Japanese and Korean .