Han Empire

For the generic empire faction in Total War: Three Kingdoms, see Han Empire (faction)

Officials of the Han Empire

The Han dynasty (Chinese: 漢朝; pinyin: Hàn cháo) was the second imperial dynasty of China (206 BC–220 AD), preceded by the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD).

In the Total War: Three Kingdoms, Han Empire is considered a sub-culture with respective faction leaders, mostly warlords and governors of the Empire. The imperial factions have the default militia unit roster and default reform trees in comparison to other factions in the game.

Factions and Warlords

Han Empire factions are labelled as Han Chinese subcultures with access to Han military unit roster and regular reforms.

Warlords

Warlords factions are the most common factions in the game. They are the center of the dynastic conflicts in Three Kingdoms. Warlords factions generally are capable of performing most gameplay mechanics in the game, such as abdicate the emperor or restore the Han dynasty. They can also influence the Imperial Court depending on how many courtiers support them.

• Cao Cao leading Cao Wei
• Dong Zhuo leading Zhou
• Gongsun Zan leading Yan
• Liu Bei leading Shu-Han
• Liu Yan leading Xun (Requires Fates Divided DLC
• Lü Bu leading Yin (Requires A World Betrayed DLC)
• Sun Jian leading Wu
• Sun Ce leading Eastern Wu (Requires A World Betrayed DLC)
• Yuan Shao leading Song
• Yuan Shu leading Zhong

Governors

Main article: Governors (Total War: Three Kingdoms)

Governors are a different type of playable factions in the Factions menu. The most notable differences are the fact that they cannot demand an abdication of another Emperor, and cannot reach Emperor rank unless they take another Emperor's capital. All governors are loyal to the Han and this is why they will never declare themselves Emperor by making their own Emperor seats.

• Kong Rong leading Qi
• Liu Biao leading Chu
• Lu Zhi leading Guangyang (Requires Mandate of Heaven DLC)
• Ma Teng leading Liang
• Shi Xie leading Ba
• Tao Qian leading Lu

The Empire

Empire factions are added in Mandate of Heaven. Emperor Liu Hong, while ruling his own faction in Luoyang, controls the Han Empire, while Liu Chong controls several lands in Chen as an imperial prince.

• Liu Hong leading Han Empire
• Liu Chong leading Chen

Situation

Rise of the Warlords (190)

The campaign of Total War: Three Kingdoms begins in 190 AD, right before the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period. The once glorious Han dynasty is on the verge of collapse, and the enthroned child Emperor Xian is being manipulated by the warlord Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo's oppressive rule leads to chaos. New warlords such as Yuan Shao and Cao Cao rise and form a coalition of warlords to fight against Dong Zhuo. However, since each warlord has their own personal ambitions and constantly shifting allegiances, the future of China is uncertain. The play area for the grand campaign takes place in the concurrent territory of the Han Empire.

The Han Empire also serves as a faction on the campaign map. It still controls regions with neither rebellion activities nor warlord presence.

At the beginning of the campaign, the Han Empire is the vassal of whoever controls the child emperor, which can be obtained by conquering the capital of whoever currently controls him or by reaching the equivalent rank to/surpassing the rank of the current warlord (though this means the Emperor can flee from the player to another warlord should they reach a rank equivalent to/surpass the players). Dong Zhuo is the default warlord controlling Emperor Xian and the Han at the start of the campaign, but whoever conquers Dong Zhuo's capital – Chang'an – or simply reaches an equivalent rank to/surpasses his rank gains control of Emperor Xian and the Han Empire as a vassal. Control of Emperor Xian and the Han can pass through multiple warlords before the Three Kingdoms are proclaimed. Controlling Emperor Xian is particularly profitable in the early game, when most territories are still under Han control; as more and more regions are annexed by the various factions, the Han Empire becomes a less significant vassal. While the Emperor is in the players control then there is no permanent way to get rid of him (unless the players simply allows another warlord to invade the capital city for which the Emperor resides in or allows another warlord to usurp the players current rank) and the player will have to assist the Han should another warlord go to war against the Han in which controlling the Emperor may result in a large opposition.

When the Three Kingdoms period begins, whatever is left of the Han Empire – if there is any left – following Emperor Xian's abdication continues to exist as an independent faction free from vassalage. The remaining territories become a sort of holdout faction, the last remaining loyalists of the Han Empire.

Mandate of Heaven (182)

The Han Empire appears as a playable faction in the DLC chapter pack for Three Kingdoms, Mandate of Heaven. It is playable through playing as the Han Emperor, Liu Hong who controls the Empire at the games start, through this players will not directly own all Han Empire territories but these territories which are inhabited by warlords and governors will be subjects to Emperor Liu Hong. Through this mechanic the player can exile governors and warlords from the Han Empire, declare an empire war on another faction which immediately causes all other factions to declare war on the selected faction though this may also have diplomatic penalties with other factions, however warlords and governors can choose to abandon the empire which makes their territory independent from the Han but doing so causes a diplomatic penalty with the Han Empire.

The Emperor may also force fighting between two factions to cease in which are called feuds, while a warlord or governor is a subject of the Han Empire, they may only conduct feuds and can not declare war on another faction to which the Emperor can force the infighting to stop. No other factions will get involved within these feuds. As Liu Hong the player can declare what are called "Mandated Powers" which gives the player direct control during state emergencies however after the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 AD, these powers are automatically granted to the player. The Emperor also possesses the ability to annex other subjects or a subjects territories at the cost of -20 political influence as long as they are a subject of the Han but doing so will have diplomatic penalties with all other warlords and governors. Alternatively Liu Hong may also annex the entire faction, this requires 400 political influence to do so. Liu Hong also has access to the Imperial Army which is led by his General-in-Chief, He Jin which gives him access to a variety of heavy infantry, cavalry and ranged units.

The Emperor can also dissolve the Empire through the mechanic "Dissolve Empire", doing so will release all subjects from the Han Empire and grant them independence which effectively ends the Han Dynasty but the player will continue as Liu Hong's faction, this usually results in wars between other warlords upon the dissolution of the Han. Playing as a warlord, the player is a nominal subject of the Han Empire but if the player chooses to abandon the Han they can become an independent faction.

Eventually an event will pop-up in which Emperor Ling will die and Dong Zhuo will seize control over the Han Empire and Emperor Xian will be enthroned. This event can be prevented if the player plays as Liu Hong, upon this event, the Han Empire will immediately become vassalized by Dong Zhuo. Another event which is preventable is the death of Liu Chong which kickstarts the Three Kingdom's period, this event can also be prevented by playing as Liu Chong.

Fates Divided (200)

In the Fates Divided DLC, the Han Empire is all but a rump state and virtually defunct, though the Empire itself is gone, the Empire and Emperor Xian are still nominally recognised with Emperor Xian still being considered Emperor of the Han Dynasty by the Warlords. Control of Emperor Xian brings new advantages and benefits through the Imperial Intrigue system which represents how the Emperor views a faction and its actions with high intrigue bringing acceptable benefits and public order bonuses while low intrigue reduces public order and increases corruption, this is known as "Imperial Favour". Intrigue is influenced by a factions actions, acts of treachery or looting and razing settlements may lower favour, intrigue does not come into use until Emperor Xian comes of age in 197 CE. The Warlord who controls the Emperor is known as the Emperor's Imperial Protectorate, through this they can issue Imperial Decrees to other factions to sway a diplomatic deal in their favour.

The Han Empire can be restored through the restoration mechanic, through this mechanic if the player controls Emperor Xian and is the first Warlord to reach the rank of King, they will be given the option to either claim the throne for themselves and form their own dynasty or alternatively they may restore Emperor Xian to the throne which will effectively make Emperor Xian their new faction leader and restores the Han Empire, upon this the player's faction will be renamed to "Han Empire" and their flag will be changed to the flag of the Han. This mechanic will only function if the player controls Emperor Xian and is the first to obtain the rank of King, should another Warlord proclaim themselves Emperor before the player, the option will not pop up and the player will simply proclaim themselves Emperor upon reaching the rank of King.

History

The state of the Han Empire was considered a world superpower during its time and is considered one of golden ages in Chinese history. To this day, China's majority ethnic group refers to themselves as the "Han Chinese" and the Chinese script is called "hanzi". Even the Chinese language is sometimes referred to as "hanyu".

Trivia

• The Emperor moves along with the capital should the player move it while in control of Emperor Xian.
• The Han Empire is not actually very aggressive or defensive at all, and the Empire doesn't typically make new armies to defend its territories or go on the offensive.
• If the player is playing as a Yellow Turban warlord and a rebellion breaks out, then a retinue of Han Empire units, referred to as "Han Empire Renegades," will spawn.
  • Additionally, if a Yellow Turban player captures Emperor Xian before the Three Kingdoms phase of the game begins, they will force him to abdicate immediately. However, this does not trigger the Three Kingdoms and the Han Empire faction continues on independently without the emperor.