Lein Empire

The Lein Dynasty was a dynasty of the Empire, of that civilisation which was anciently known as the Yesan, preceded by the Har Dynasty and succeeded by the Yech Dynasty. It was ruled by the family of the same name, and ruled for around 500 years (depending on the definition of the ending of the dynasty, since it split into two at its end); founded by Lein Durun berHikas, it had either 20 or 21 Emperors in all (again, depending on definition). See Genealogy of the Lein Emperors.

The Lein Dynasty was the fourth unified dynasty of the Yesan, and in terms of historical impact one of the greatest ever. During the dynasty the Empire more than doubled in area, and extended military and political control over four continents, to the extent of carving up entire continents into properly-defined states, all of which were them placed under the protection and suzerainty of the Imperial Court. Meanwhile, artistically the Lein was also a golden age, with new styles of sculpting, painting and other graphic arts imported from all over the world, while poetry evolved from the old, relatively rigid style of the 'ode' to the new 'song' and 'assertion' forms. At the same time other art forms also flourished, from painting to music to sculpture; the Tomb of Areya, for example, contained no less than 600 stone sculptures, to serve as handmaidens, servants and guards for the Empress buried within.

Beginnings

The founding of the Lein Dynasty had its roots in the corruption and terror which occupied the last decades of the Har Dynasty. During the reign of the last two Har Emperors, the country was slipping into ever-greater chaos; while many families, granted Imperial Approvals to monopolise trade in certain regions and to pay the taxes to the government, were rapidly growing into political powers of their own right, the princes, families of the imperial consorts (the Outer Kin) and the officials were being engaged in bitter factional infighting in the power centre.

At the same time, a series of agricultural crises and famines in the last decades of Har rule resulted in great hardship in the southern regions, which since time immemorial had been the economic power base of the Har Emperors; huge movements of population were at first held back, then slaughtered by the army, and before long these impoverished peasants began to fight back. A series of large agrarian revolts shook the South, while in the north tensions were also running high as officials stopped receiving salaries (all money going towards the war effort) and the Thridan people from the northern border ceaselessly building up large camps as though preparing to invade the Empire on a massive scale.

It was into this political mess that Lein Durun berHikas, the founder of the Dynasty, plunged with a small army of his own. He first claimed that he would capture the provincial capital of Kurad Province, the large city of Alemos, in order to fortify against the outer enemy and to return peace to the inner lands - an ostensibly pro-Imperial message which earned him the support of officials still loyal to the old regime. By the time he reached Alemos his ranks had swelled tenfold to more than 80,000 men, and the city surrendered without a fight, starting the Lein Founding War as Lein Durun's army fought both the peasant uprisings and, eventually, the very same government it had allied with against those peasant uprisings. Five years later, aged 40, Lein Durun captured the capital city of Meiron and was crowned in Ansagin Palace as the First Emperor of the Lein Dynasty.

Early Period

The so-called Early Period of the Lein Dynasty refers mostly to the reigns of the first three Emperors, stretching across 59 years: Durun, his son Kasan, and his grandson Onge; it was marked first by great reforms which paved the way for an early burst of prosperity, before the tyranny and misrule of Onge nearly brought the whole Empire to its knees.

Lein Durun, with the assistance of his Grand Chancellor Aran Ozei berKami, set in motion sweeping reforms to the original laws of the Har Dynasty. Firstly, he simplified the increasingly labyrinthine legal code of the Har, and created the Code of the Progenitor, which besides being a legal code was also a set of rules for the behaviour of officials, and the standards expected of all Emperors after him. The next and even more important reform was that of land; millions of squares of land had either been left unused due to the revolts and the Founding War, or were producing very inefficiently due to their being owned by large absentee landowners (who often did not put money into ensuring the productiveness of their land). To solve this, Durun and Aran Ozei created a system whereby peasants were encouraged to move and organise their own land, pooling their money (together with considerable Imperial subsidies) to purchase agricultural tools, while the large army which had fought in the Founding War was put to good use building irrigation and water conservancy systems so as to increase the yield of the lands, especially the highly fertile southwestern fields - which, by the end of Durun's reign, was routinely producing three crops a year.

Famous Rulers

• Lein Durun berHikas
• Lein Loran berOnge
• Lein Atha berLoran
• Lein Sora berAtha

See also

• Lein Imperial Regalia
• Lein Imperial Army
• The High Houses

Preceded by: Har Dynasty

Lein Dynasty ruled 518 or 526

Succeeded by: Yech Dynasty