Excerpt from Those Who Serve, by Scholar Tory from the Fallen Star Pavilion
----------------------------------------
Where does one start with Ji WuMing, now better known as the Whale of ZhiXia?
You will notice I have left his entry for last in this compendium because of his curious status: the first Titled One to have served the Prince, and the only Titled One who has defected from the Empire of the Sun.
But first, some context:
There are no records of his origins except for the day he joined the Red Army as an orphan in the year 1330 of the Sun. I have found an archived recruitment slip where the doctor who interviewed him for the entrance exam determined "despite his size, the boy must have been no older than ten Sorrows" at the time. When asked why he wanted to join the Red Army, the stated reason was for food. The doctor notes on the recruitment slip that he only agreed to let the young Ji WuMing join based on his strong build and stature, reasoning that the boy would later become a solid soldier for the Red Army.
Ji WuMing then spent the few years achieving internal and external battle merits during the ongoing efforts by the Empire to reclaim territories lost during the Fracturing. These merits enabled him to easily climb the Red Army's ranks, eventually achieving his first Title when he became Division Commander of the Empire's First Division in just eight Sorrows. At an estimated eighteen years old, this makes him one of a handful of people to have achieved a Title before they were twenty years of age.
The Empire's rapid reclamation of territories had put the remaining Free Cities into a state of unease, but they were divided as to how to respond. In the year 1339 of the Sun, the Frost Saint emerged from a tribal moot as the Mother of Hjornheim. In a proclamation to the remaining Free Cities, she revealed she was acting as the Oracle's vessel to put a stop to the Empire's ambitions in reaching Heaven. And as we all know from documented history, this resulted in the events of the Frost Saint's Rebellion.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
It was during this time when Ji WuMing was named Commander of the Red Army by the Prince. He accompanied the Prince to the Northern Plains with three Divisions with a goal for pacifying the Northern Tribes. The records indicate that fighting broke out before the scheduled peace talk when the Spear and Shield of Oasis appeared with a regiment of Sand Spears to join the Frost Saint.
It was during this time that the Empire City of Kamisukawa declared its intention to break away from the Empire. Based on the Red Army's records, the Prince engaged in battle with the Spear and Shield of Oasis, killing the two of them and left command of the fighting forces in Ji WuMing's hands while he personally went to Kamisukawa.
During the next few days, Ji WuMing negotiated a temporary truce with the Frost Saint and the Northern Tribes, pulling the Red Army back to Crescent City. It is unknown why he did so when the prevailing sentiment was that the Red Army was in a position to crush the Northern Tribes immediately after the Prince routed the Sand Spears. After the Red Army was settled down in the City, he left command to his aides and headed for Kamisukawa on the day of the infamous Massacre.
Many Scholars think the Massacre of Kamisukawa directly instigated the clash between the Prince of the Empire and Ji WuMing. The timing of their clash lends full credence to this theory.
A report from a Scholar of the time described their battle as "an inland typhoon that raged across half of the Central Valley." For those who find the claim incredulous, the results of the fight can still be seen today on our maps: the Ash Canyon, a near-straight scar cleaved straight through Ash Mesa, leads straight to the Concave Shoal where Ji WuMing was defeated just outside the delta of the River Ash near HaiFeng City. (Note: the "Ash" in these names refers to the literal ash covering these areas after Kamisukawa went up in flames. Yes, the Scholars of the time had very little naming sense, but the names stuck.)
Despite his defeat, Ji WuMing was not captured or killed by the Prince. Instead, a credible story from HaiFeng City says that the Prince brought Ji WuMing to the best healer in the City and paid for his treatment before leaving.
A year after this defeat, Ji WuMing reappeared in ZhiXia City, appointed as its defending Titled One by the Oracle and given the Title he now holds: the Whale of ZhiXia. While the residents of ZhiXia City were initially wary to accept the former Commander into their lives, enough decades have gone by that he is now a well-known and respected figure within the City.
Scholars have debated one question for decades: Why was Ji WuMing spared? The Massacre of Kamisukawa showed the Prince's lack of tolerance for betrayal. Is it not betrayal that Ji WuMing abandoned his post as Commander of the Red Army to attack the Prince himself?