The Revolts of the Wall

Revolution

Discontent became open rebellion. Had the Emperor lost the Mandate of Heaven?

After breaking free from the Ordering the Wend Wall had enjoyed many years of prosperity in glorious isolation. Little actually changed for most people with the change from Ordering to Wend Wall rule. The land was still ruled by immortal gods and their Guardians. The only difference was that that top god was now Hanshu the Manyfaced and not Argus the Allfather . All were not content with this state of affairs.   Hanshu was a sly and skillfully ruler. He successfully kept a lid on things for many hundreds of years. However it could not last. In 1511 a large raid by the Dead Sea Collective on Harperrim turned into a general revolt in the north against the Emperor, as many there wished to re-join The Apex Republic . The revolt was put down with brutal force by spring 1513, but this was but the first of many challenges to Imperial rule.   In the following year a group of Guardians were ambushed and killed near Maiyunda. This sparked another revolt. At the same time the northern provinces revolted once more with open support from the Apex Republic who wished to reclaim their former lands, and avenge the Incident of 1442. The rebels proved unable to coordinate their efforts, and each was put down in turn, but with heavy causalities for the Imperial Green Banner Army.   The year 1515 proved even more disastrous than the previous years. That year heavy rains and large amounts of melt-water caused the rivers and lakes to flood. Vast tracts of farmlands were ruined. Hundreds of villages were destroyed, and the city of Ishi Kakun effectively ceased to exist. The following famine killed hundreds of thousands. People speculated openly that Hanshu the Manyfaced had lost the Mandate of Heaven. People were executed left and right for treason during the winter, but to no avail.   In 1516 the entire countryside seemed to revolt. No village was safe for supporters of the Emperor. The Imperial Green Banner Army, weakened from previous revolts meet a shattering defeat at the fields of Báisè de tiányě. The remnants of the army withdrew to Hanshu city where they were quickly besieged.   The siege of Hanshu lasted for 4 years. The Emperor had stocked the city with provisions, and fresh water sources in the city could provide water indefinitely. The rebels proved unable once again to coordinate their efforts, often squabbling and fighting each other for dominance. Each rebel leader fancied himself the next emperor, they saw the Hanshu the Manyfaced as defeated, awaiting the coup de grace. This allowed Hanshu to be resupplied and the forces there to keep fighting.   The rebel factions proved unequal to the task of taking the great city. The rebellion begun to dwindle away as people went back to their farms and deserted the rebel armies. The remaining rebels devolved into open war against each other. By 1519 Apex had withdrawn support for the Northern rebel armies. In 1520 an Imperial army raised by Hanshu the Manyfaced in disguise relieved the siege of the capital. The rebellion soon died out in the years after.   The purge that followed was brutal. It restored Imperial authority but made sure The Many Faced would forever be feared rather than loved in his domain. Some reforms were enacted, but much was left the same as before the revolt.