Gozoku (TCG)

The Gozoku was originally a political alliance of the Scorpion, Crane, and Phoenix Clans. The triad essentially controlled the workings of the Empire.
== Creation ==
During the late fourth century three samurai, the champions of Crane, Phoenix, and Scorpion Clans, conspired against the Emperor. Calling themselves the Gozoku, they banded together and kidnapped the Emperor's heir, forcing the Emperor to grant them certain political concessions. After the Emperor's death, the Gozoku prepared to install that heir on the Throne as their puppet emperor. Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 14
== Gozoku Domination ==
=== The Emperor as a Figurehead ===
The Emperor Hantei Fujiwa sought to check the power of the Gozoku, which had usurped his own authority. He decided to do so by breaking the internal unity of one of the chief Gozoku backers, the Crane Clan, driving a wedge between the courtly Doji family and the mercantile Yasuki family. Under Fujiwa's bidding, the loyal Crab Clan expanded its borders, and open warfare erupted when the Crab seized the Yasuki lands, claiming the Crane had no need for them. Swearing service to the Crab, the Yasuki family defected and the Yasuki War eventually ended. The Gozoku had not been checked, and they grew in power until they eventually rendered Fujiwa a figurehead. Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 56
=== Growing the Empire ===
During the time of the Gozoku, Otosan Uchi underwent a period of great growth. The Imperial City had mostly consisted of the Imperial Palace and various houses maintained for the courtiers of the clans and the commoners who served them. Gozoku officials arranged to have the city's harbor improved, and they extended the network of roads to the city. As a result, more samurai, craftspeople, and merchants traveled to the city. Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 15
== Dawnfall ==
While the Emperor's sons had all been fostered to daimyō in the Crane, Phoenix, and Scorpion Clans to be raised to be subservient to the Gozoku, his youngest child, Yugozohime, had been raised by the Lion. She was taught on the arts of war and instilled in her a reverence for Bushidō and the honor of her Imperial ancestors. When the Emperor died, Yugozohime challenged her eldest brother to a duel, killed him, and claimed the Throne for herself. The Gozoku were completely unprepared for this turn of events, and the new Emperor quickly broke their hold on the Imperial government. 
Category:Organization (TCG)