Heartwashing Assembly

**Dev. Status** | Conceptual

*I grew up under the claw of the dragon,*

*after I grew up I became an heir of the dragon*

*Black eyes, black hair, yellow skin,*

*forever and ever an heir of the dragon*

- *Heirs of the Dragon*, Hou Dejian
The **Heart Washing Dynasty**, also called the **Dynasty**, the **Heart Washers** or, more cynically, the **Chinese**, is a rogue state allied to Epsilon that has risen from the ashes of China and has spread its influences elsewhere, especially in the increasingly fertile landscape of the underground where societies long unconnected to the world above have been contacted and incorporated into the fold by the ideology of the great Heartwashers. Though their Shanxi fortress might seem small and distant from Epsilon's aid from the map, their spider-webbing influence underground and into many areas below the waves is vast indeed. Revered and, as many critics say, worshiped by his millions upon millions of subjects spread across Asia and below the Earth and Waves, Yan Xishan now bides his time in the new peace since the end of the third great war. The wise sages and clergy of the Dynasty instructs thousands of new trainees every day in the all-encompassing philosophy of Heart Washing. To the outside world, the Dynasty presents itself as a shining utopia above the petty squabbles of ideology and the destructive segregation of blocs. But inside the stomach of the dragon, a great fire is building which will one day cleanse the hearts and minds of the whole world.

## Background

### Towards the Republic

1911. China. The Qing Dynasty is overthrown by revolutionaries lead by Sun Yat-sen and the modernized sections of its military lead by Yuan Shi-kai. Among the rebel military officers is a young man named Yan Xishan. Yan had been the son of a wealthy merchant family. After his father was ruined in an economic downturn, Yan was sent to Japan where he attended the prestigious Tokyo Shimbu Gakko prepatory military academy and later the Imperial Japanese Army Academy which he graduated from in 1909. Yan left Japan not only with a good diploma but also a mind brimming with new ideas. He saw how Japan, a backwards island nation once cut off from the world, had successfully modernized itself and how its populace were almost blindly loyal to and enthusiastic in their support of the their government. He realized that for China to compete in the new century, there had to be changes, serious changes. In Japan, Yan Xishan also happened to meet one Sun Yat-sen, another Chinese expatriate who was disgusted with the corruption and misrule of the Qing. Yan joined with Sun's revolutionary society, the Tongmenghui, and vowed to one restore China's power to the days of the great Ming.

Upon his return to China, Sun was given command of the modernized Chinese units in his home province of Shanxi where he secretly worked to undermine the Qing by writing pamphlets about the need for China to modernize like Japan did & even develop its own form of bushido. When the revolution came around, Yan Xishan's forces joined with those of Yuan Shikai and the other rebel generals to drive the Manchu from China. Yan felt that at last, the Han Chinese people were free to pursue their own destiny as the heirs of the Ming Dynasty. This exuberance was short lived however, as Yan grew to realize that President Yuan and his cronies were no different than the corrupt mandarins they replaced. There was little Yan could do though, as Shanxi was surrounded on all sides by forces loyal to Yuan while Sun Yat-sen and the KMT were racked by inaction & indecision. Yan Xishan still held on to Shanxi though and while the warlord cliques were tearing China down after Yuan died, Yan was making Shanxi his own personal utopian society.

### The Model Province and the two old Dragons

Being on opposite sides of the civil war from his close friend Kung did not sit easily with Xishan. Despite his requests for Kung to see reason, he was adamant that god was with Jiang and thus so would he be with him. This ache in his own heart lead him to seek deeper counsel with Geoffrey and his Epsilon group, and together with them he worked on a number of strange and sinister technologies. Particularly, Xishan had interest in psychic technologies, not to brainwash but to unlock the potential of humanity and turn men into supermen.