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| By King Bumis Heir | Part of the Avatar: The Legacy of Rong Yan continuity. |
| Juji's fine. He comes back to life in the end when the doomsday device shifts the polarity of the Earth. Oops. Spoiler. Sorry.
Warning! This page contains spoilers for Avatar: The Legacy of Rong Yan.
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| "As a tribute to those who fell to corrupted guards in the Lower and Agrarian Rings. We haven't forgotten about you, this is the man who drowned in the blood of innocents. Lord Cuandao, may his soul receive eternal punishment, and may the carrion birds feed on his flesh in the plane of the living." |
| — A sign written by a recruit of the royal guards in the Upper Ring. A message to the people of the Agrarian Zone from Qiang Zhen in Chapter 3: The Oppressed. |
42nd Earth King Qiang Zhen is the new and current Earth King, the ruler of the whole entire Earth Kingdom, ruling from the capital city of Ba Sing Se. He is a minor character in the fanon Avatar: The Legacy of Rong Yan. 42nd Earth King rules from the end of Book 1, Chapter 13 to Book 3. I assume he would die after Avatar Yangchen is born.
History[]
Early Life[]
Qiang Zhen was luckily born into royalty, as the grandson of Ta Po, and the child to Ta Po's son. Living in the Upper Ring in an estate close to the palace, Qiang Zhen's childhood was solitary-like.
Qiang Zhen was not able to go to school like the other children in the Upper Ring, he was highly protected by the elite guards as well as all of his family. His father's personal friend was Qiang Zhen's tutor. At the age of 10, Qiang Zhen discovered he was an earthbender, the tutor was also an earthbending master, and Qiang Zhen's tutor trained him in earthbending.
In his teen years, Qiang Zhen was anti-social, had no friends other than his tutor, his grandfather (which they had a great relationship by the way), the servants, and the guards. He spent most of his time home, reading and studying, or training in his skill of earthbending.
Adulthood[]
By the age of 23, he was a young man, his grandfather offered him a home by the palace as well. Qiang Zhen had already mastered earthbending by this point, and his grandfather Ta Po had offered him free studies at the university.
Qiang Zhen took up the offer and left to the university, studying in politics, and economics was what he majored in. Graduating at the age of 27, Qiang Zhen, became a political scholar and learning of all the politics of not just the Earth Kingdom but that of the other nations.
Assassination of Earth King Ta Po[]
The next morning when he had heard of his grandfather's death, he could not acknowledge his grandfather's death. He was not able to cope with it, his grandfather the Earth King was very close to Qiang Zhen.
These were the toughest times for his family. His father was appointed to be the next Earth King as he was Ta Po's son. Qiang Zhen, asked if they can revolt the birthright of his father to himself, his father was too old and already had enough weight on his shoulders.
Instead of his father, Qiang Zhen was now appointed to be the heir to the throne, the Earth Council agreed upon his request, as it would've been a lot better if they had a fresh young mind leading the country.
Coronation of Earth King Qiang Zhen[]
Two weeks had passed when he requested the Earth King position to him from his father. The day had come where he would be crowned the new Earth King, in the afternoon.
Qiang Zhen, from the beginning of his reign, had law to any of those who joined the Mousha Quan gang, or were allied with them was for immediate extortion to them. During that time the Dixia gang and Hei Shichang gang had hid for six months. The Mousha Quan gang had disbanded during that time, and Shan-Yu's son had lived a normal life.
Six Months of Darkness[]
The first six months of Qiang Zhen's reign were hard for the triads of Ba Sing Se, only two of them remained while the Mousha Quan tried to begin again. It was quickly dismantled by the guards over and over again.
There was a double presence of guards around the Lower Ring which left the Middle Ring to fall into more crime rates. Although the crime percentage in the Middle Ring was small there was almost none in the Lower Ring.
Left and right daofei were hunted and imprisoned the very lucky ones were killed, a few others fled to start life anew in another part of the world. Most fled to the Northern Water Tribe others to the Fire Nation. Many also joined the Fifth Nation under Lord Iminaurak.
During this time Senlin wasn't an issue however the guards were underpaid for risking their necks for the crown. Several turned against the king himself a small rebellion thwarted in the Upper Agrarian Zone. In 655 BG - 654 BG these became a problem because some of the guards turned to the side of the daofei and joined a new triad called the Yapo, or the oppressed as they called themselves. While they replaced the Mousha Quan in sense, murder contracts weren't their main focus. Their most important duty was to gain support and admiration from the people of the Lower Ring.
Assassinations[]
It was clear in the autumn of 658 BG, someone wanted to grab Qiang Zhen's attention. For an entire year, his ministers were targeted and assassinated by an unknown organization. Or so they thought when Captain Wei alongside with his best friend Shang Jin were sent out to find the person behind this they found and captured Senlin.
Senlin was the one behind the killings when they thought he was dead since autumn 659 BG. News spread about the Kingdoms of Earth that the Avatar killed the Great Betrayer in the Jongmu Air Temple. Qiang Zhen was shocked to receive the letter from Shang Jin that detailed their failure and the death of Wei. Which sparked outrage in Lucky Laobing, making him hunt down Senlin himself with the assistance of Dimian and the Terra Team.
The news of the Earth Prince reached the ears of Senlin, his next plan was to restart the war. He had Kimaru assassinate the Earth Prince in Kunlun City, Kunlun, where the prince visited to celebrate the new year. The prince was there to spread support for himself and his cousin Qiang Zhen.
The next morning Baotong was found dead in his room, a dagger plunged in his chest, his genitals castrated, a passport and a scroll from Cupun left behind as evidence. When news reached Qiang Zhen it tossed him and his family into disarray, the Horn of Quietus sounded off which scared nobles across the Upper Ring. Many feared the Earth King died, but Guwen settled everyone and told them Baotong was assassinated by the Northern Water Tribe.
Which panicked and angered many because the treaty had been broken, the nobles wanted justice while the rest of the city had mixed reactions. Youlang ran to the temple to check up on his future son-in-law but was relieved when he found out Qiang Zhen was fine. Guwen and the Council of Five handled the next set of steps while Qiang Zhen and the Qiangda family mourned the loss of a relative.
The transported remains hadn't arrived yet Baotong's body was just weeks away from the heart of the Qiangda Kingdom.
Love and Wedding[]
Ting, Qiang Zhen's mother arranged for her son to meet new matches brought forth by Meiren the matchmaker of the Upper Ring. A woman who arranged marriages between nobles and middle-class citizens in the Middle Ring. While Ting personally picked out the girl she liked the most she still wanted Qiang Zhen to pick the best one to his liking of course.
Qiang Zhen picked the same girl his mother liked, a noblewoman named Yi'an of the Zhang family. Her father was the Censorate of the southern Qiangda Kingdom states, he observed the state operations and what the governors did. He made sure the governors still supported the crown and would not secede from the Kingdom and join the Oma Kingdom.
Offers were made by the King to the family who accepted the offer and were quite happy their daughter was chosen. Arrangements of the wedding happened the fortune-teller told them their date of wedding would be the Spring Equinox. The day the wedding came the ceremony was held in the afternoon, all the kingdom's governors attended the wedding as did other nobles.
Both Qiang Zhen and his wife kowtowed before the Earth Emperor Qin, Tiandi and Yun. While Qiang Zhen kowtowed to Youlang his father-in-law as is tradition then his to his wife Yi'an. In the end, Xin'ai and Ting tied a red ribbon around Qiang Zhen and Yi'an which signified the bond between the two forever. They were ordered to enter their bridal chambers where more rituals occurred at the end of the wedding between both the husband and wife. In the morning they'd return to find blood on the bedsheets which excited both mothers and Yi'an's father. The families expected a young prince or princess to be born.
End of the Ceasefire[]
Qiang Zhen requested to meet Gao Zu in Ba Sing Se to ask for an alliance between the two Earth Kings. They would unify again to fight the Water Tribes and win the war once and for all. Gao Zu declined going to Ba Sing Se and instead told the young Earth King to meet him in Huang He. Huang He was the capital of the Hammi Tribe in the Si Wong state, thus the Si Wong Sandbenders were neutral even if the Oma Kingdom controlled the state.
He arrived to speak with Gao Zu under the eye of Chief Daj and his daughter Princess Amira, an argument between the two kings led to Gao Zu assaulting Qiang Zhen. A boulder that could've injured the young Earth King was destroyed by his general Qingbao. The sixty-year ceasefire between the Qiangda and Oma Kingdom ended that day, sixty years ago, it was established by Gao Zu and Ta Po to allow Ku Tei to kill Senlin. Since then the ceasefire had not been broken.
Gao Zu ordered Daj to set up blockades near the coast of his state and in three years doubled the soldiers at each border state. He lockdown his country to Qiangda Kingdom citizens and soldiers, all enemies were killed on sight. This severed the trade between both Kingdoms as well which caused a loss in trade revenues of both countries, Dahongpao which constantly transported citizens across both kingdoms ceased operation with the enemy kingdom. Cha Lundu the governor of Wuyi set a blockade on her side of Chuan Bay to prevent enemy ships from entering the Oma Kingdom.
Declaration of War[]
The assassinations committed by Senlin and his allies escalated the tensions between the Qiangda Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe. While treachery occurred in the North, the Qiangda Kingdom was being invaded by Palartok's loyalists under the guise of northern troops. Which wiped out a defense troop of fifty soldiers and killed everyone in a village near the coast of Hankou province.
Thod and Iglaak were arrested on espionage and plotting against the kingdom by Guwen, Qiang Zhen requested negotiations with Cupun in the Baiyan Air Temple with R'Kang and the Northern Council of Elders as the mediators of the diplomatic meeting. The release of northern diplomats back to their chief at the temple received backlash from the chief.
Which intensified the debate between both world leaders Qiang Zhen declined peace with the Northern Tribesmen, peace wouldn't repay the blood price of fifty soldiers and the prince. He threatened Cupun and declared war on the north.
Coup on the Earth King[]
A plot to overthrow the new Earth King began soon after his coronation in 658 BG. Lord Din Cuandao, a nobleman in the Upper Ring carefully constructed a well thoughtout plan that would go over the course of a few years to commit a coup on Qiang Zhen.
Qiang Zhen had the reputation of a weak, immature Earth King when he rose to power several laws went forth. That greatly affected the Lower and Agrarian Rings of the city-state, to which Cuandao took advantage of. With the help of the guard commander in the Lower and Agrarian Rings, and the Minister of Revenue.
The guards recruited into the guard force were criminals with minor offenses, while others grew to become corrupt. The commander paid the guards very little to begin with and blamed the tax laws of the new Earth King. While the reports from Shuishou Dachen, the Minister of Revenue for taxes implemented by decree of the Earth King went unreported by the Minister.
The Minister pulled the strings on the tax surging in the poorer districts which didn't affect the Middle or Upper Rings. For three years, the corrupt guards fought with the daofei, eventually after so much harassment and wrongful arrests of lower-class citizens happened. A revolt of the lower-class created the Yapo triad.
Who's main purpose were to steal and kill the rich, and give to the poor. Rumors of the revolt reached the ears of the Grand Secretariat. Lord Guwen began investigations on the rumors that led to Minister Dachen, and Commander Fubai's arrests. A plant was hired to trap Dachen in the palace and commit an assassination attempt on Qiang Zhen.
Qiang Zhen heard it himself during the time he burrowed in the ground of the throne room along with other agents. Lord Din Cuandao's estate was raided by royal guards, on a night where he and his men would meet for a weekly meeting. Many were arrested and Cuandao was killed, his body was tossed into the compost of the Agrarian Zone to send a message to the lower-class that the Earth King hasn't forgotten about them.
Cuandao's corpse held a sign while the carrion birds feasted on his flesh. The blood of innocents was finally repaid by the death of Lord Cuandao the man responsible for the corruption of Lower Ring and Agrarian Zone guards, the establishment of the Yapo triad, and deaths of many innocents. All those who were arrested were executed the next morning as punishment for treason and committing a plot to overthrown the Earth King.
Abilities[]
Qiang Zhen, was born an earthbender, and did not discover his abilities until he had turned ten years old. His father's personal friend, who was also his tutor, was an earthbending master and had trained him in earthbending.
In his early 20s, Qiang Zhen, had mastered earthbending. At his mid-40s, he trains his son in earthbending. His daughter being a non-bender Qiang Zhen, trains her in polearm fighting.
Relatives[]
- Ting (Mother)
- Chung-Po (Father; Deceased)
- Zhang Yi-an (Wife)
- Chung-bao (Heir to the throne; Prince; Son)
- Unknown daughter (Princess; Daughter)
- 41st Earth King Ta Po (Grandfather; Deceased)
- Shen-su (Cousin; Deceased)
- Baotong (Cousin; Deceased)
- Songli (Aunt)
- Mang (Uncle)
Appearances[]
Book One: Air[]
Book Two: Water[]
- Chapter 8: Captured (Mentioned; No lines)
- Chapter 16: Comrades & Connections
- Chapter 17: The Northern Water Tribe
- Chapter 18: Thirst for Blood
- Chapter 19: The Campaign of Two Nations Part 1: Royal Matrimony
- Chapter 20: The Campaign of Two Nations Part 2: A Divided Nation
Book Three: Earth[]
| Preceded by 41st Earth King Ta Po |
Earth King 659 BG - 571 BG (88 Years) |
Succeeded by Prince Chung-bao |
Trivia[]
- Qiang Zhen is Chinese for "strong, earth".
- Qiang Zhen sounds a little familiar to Qian Zei.
- In the original comic his family was unnamed and Baotong was his royal courier.
- Tinghuo Zhe means "ender of ceasefire" in Chinese, since Qiang Zhen ended the ceasefire during his reign.
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