Zhang Wei Union
|
He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all. |
|
We do this together or not at all. It has been proposed that this page be merged with Zhawang Corporation, under the article: Zhawang Corporation. Discussion to this effect can be held on the former article's talk page. |
The Zhang Wei Union (Chinese: 張爲協組[1]; Cantonese: Zoeng1 Wai4 Hip3zou2) is a merchant shipping company based in the city of Macau, China.
Established by the British Assassin Edward Kenway in the A-Ma Cultural Village in 1725, the Union was originally a small organization comprising Edward's allies in Macau, which vowed to conduct business through ethical means, to bring people together and to protect its own members. In time, however, it grew into one of the most powerful companies in Macau, comprising numerous employees and receiving contracts from major organizations such as the Dutch East India Company.
Following Edward's departure from Macau, the Union was left under the leadership of his friend Zhang, whose family continued to run the company for generations. By the 21st century, the company had extended its operations beyond Macau and established branches throughout all of Southeast Asia, such as the Zhawang Corporation. It also became affiliated with the Assassin Brotherhood, with many of the company's members having direct ties to the Assassins.
History
Under Edward Kenway
Establishment
- "As of this moment... we declare ourselves a legitimate merchant shipping company! Everyone will be an equal member of the Union... and we will govern ourselves just as I did in the Caribbean! We will be united as a family, under one rule... we do not abandon our family!"
- ―Edward establishing the Union, 1725.[src]-[m]
In 1725, afterr inadvertently ending his partnership with the affluential businesswoman Lee Huiyin, Edward Kenway decided to start his own organization in order to conduct his business in Macau and beyond without raising suspicion.[2] Inspired by the Pirate Republic he was once part of in the Caribbean, the Assassin vowed that his new organization would be an opportunity to unite people like a family, where they would be free to govern themselves and treat each other as equals.[3]
Setting up headquarters in what would become the A-Ma Cultural Village, Edward decided that the organization would operate as a legitimate shipping company, naming it the Zhang Wei Union. He then began building it up by recruiting his various allies, including the Dutch navigator John Young, the Chinese laborer Zhang and his fellow villagers, and the former pirate captain Rupiya and his crew.[1]
First contract
- John: "I don't know, friend. Something smells funny about this. You know what the sea route to Manila is like..."
- Edward: "Aye, it's crawling with pirates. I'm well aware. I reckon it can't be easy finding a ship that's willing to navigate those waters. Hence why he came to us. Lord knows we need the work."
- —Edward and John discussing their first contract, 1725.[src]-[m]
Once the Zhang Wei Union had been fully established, Edward, John and Zhang traveled to Macau to drum up business from the locals, only to be turned down at every step. They were eventually approached by a merchant, who revealed that Lee, Sun, and the Far East Company had blacklisted them, making it near impossible to find clients. However, grateful to Edward for having previously defended his ship from pirates,[4] the merchant decided to enlist his company's services to escort the same vessel to Manila for a business endeavor.[1]
Accepting the job, Edward, John and Zhang used Rupiya's ship to sail to the Philippines. Upon reaching Manila, John went to party with the locals, from whom he learned that the East India Company and the Far East Company had recently begun recruiting people for an expedition in Indochina. Edward believed this to be a sign that the Templars were preparing to begin their search for the lost city of Angkor, though he decided against doing the same, choosing to focus on building up their reputation first.[1]
As they prepared to sail back to Macau, Edward and his crew spotted a pirate ship attacking a Dutch East India Company vessel. Unwilling to let such an opportunity go, Edward ordered Rupiya and his men to attack the pirates, intending to take their ship as a prize.[1] In the ensuing battle, Edward managed to board the pirate vessel and kill its captain, forcing the crew to surrender. However, as the ship had been damaged during the fight, it quickly caught fire and began to sink.[5]
Upon being informed of slaves held in the ship's hull, Edward rescued them and escaped from the sinking vessel before it was destroyed when its powder kegs detonated. One of the rescued prisoners, Yun Pyeong-Gyu, turned out to be a Korean scholar and engineer who had come to the Qing Empire as an aide to a Joseon envoy, and his skills came in handy when Edward decided to escort the damaged Dutch East India Company ship to Macau.[6]
Afterr Yun fixed the ship's broken wheel, Edward and his crew sailed to Macau, where the Assassin offered Yun, alongside every other liberated slave looking for work, a place in the Zhang Wei Union. Yun accepted the offer and, to celebrate the recruitment of their latest member, John suggested that they all go drinking.[6]
Mission to the Paracel Islands
Shortly after the crew's return to Macau, Edward was hired by Jan van Aert, the Dutch East India Company's chief navigator, to rid the Paracel Islands of pirates. In exchange, Jan promised to let the Assassin keep any goods looted from the pirates and to secure a five-year partnership between his company and the Zhang Wei Union. Seeing this as an opportunity to expand the organization, Edward met with John and Zhang to inform them of the job and they insisted that they accompany him, unwilling to let Edward endanger himself.[7]
Afterwards, Edward went to see Yun at his workshop, where he found the latter working on some weapons he had developed back in Korea. Impressed by Yun's designs and believing the weapons could prove crucial in the upcoming mission's success, Edward provided Yun with the necessary resources and manpower to build them. Once the weapons had been finished and tested, Edward and his crew set sail towards the Paracel Islands to fulfill their contract.[7]
En route to the islands, Edward devised a plan to destroy the pirates' compound: while he and John would take a rowboat to arrive on the islands undetected and proceed to plant to explosives around the base, Rupiya would distract the pirates by getting them drunk and Zhang would pose as his prisoner. The plan was successful until Edward freed Zhang and the pirates' other prisoners, as the resulting commotion attracted the pirates' attention, initiating a gunfight. As Edward, John and Zhang ran towards Rupiya's ship, the explosives the former two had planted detonated, destroying the pirates' compound.[8]
Thanks to a final bomb thrown by John, which destroyed the pirates' dock and slowed them down, the crew were able to flee the island aboard Rupiya's ship. However, the pirates eventually caught up to them after Rupiya inadvertently sailed to the "Boneyard of Sails", a rough patch of the sea infamous for the number of ships that had sunk there. Edward devised a plan to eliminate their pursuers and lured them into a trap where all the pirates were ultimately killed by hwachas built by Yun.[9]
Partnership with the Dutch East India Company
Following the success of their mission to the Paracel Islands, Edward and his crew returned to Macau with the pirate ships they had managed to seize. There, an impressed Jan van Aert offered to help Edward register the ships and kept his promise of a five-year contract between the Zhang Wei Union and the Dutch East India Company. However, Edward referred Jan to Zhang, claiming that he was merely an advisor and that Zhang was the true head of the Union. Amused, Jan shook hands with Zhang, marking the beginning of the partnership between their respective organizations.[10]
The Union's partnership with the company allowed it to grow rapidly, receiving numerous shipping contracts. However, Edward found it difficult to keep up with the increasing demands of the company, and as such decided to shift his focus to retrieving the sea log of the late Dutch navigator Hendrik, which had been stolen by the Templars and was the only lead to Angkor's location.[10]
During this time, Yun repaired and upgraded one of the ships Edward had seized from the pirates, which was re-named the Fenghuang and became the flagship of the Zhang Wei Union. Ahead of his mission to assassinate Shimazu Saito for Fuma Sukuna, Edward visited Yun, who informed him about the new armaments he had installed on the Fenghuang and gifted him a Phantom Blade he had built. Edward also asked for John and Zhang's help with his mission and, even though it did not benefit the Union, they both readily accepted.[11]
Recruitment of Shimazu Saito and Xialun Qing
- "Are you really so desperate for help... that you're willing to join forces with a Japanese samurai of all people?! Besides, Mister Kenway, was she not your enemy before? How can you ally yourself with such a person? This is sheer folly!"
- ―Yun protesting against Saito's recruitment into the Union, 1725.[src]-[m]
Following the events that took place at Sun's floating gambling hall, Saito was reluctantly recruited into the Zhang Wei Union after the deaths of her ninja followers. Saito's recruitment drew protests from Yun, owing to the animosity rousing from the Imjin War fought between Japan and Joseon, Saito's and Yun's home countries respectively.[12]
Yun initially refused to acknowledge or interact with Saito, but eventually, a friendly archery contest between the two resulted in them agreeing to work with each other. Yun acknowledged Saito's skills after she had won the contest while she praised his work and inventions. The two later joined Edward in deciphering part of Hendrik's sea log,[12] which spoke of a treasure pursued by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in Cebu.[13]
When the organization settled on the Philippines as their next destination, they were joined by John's new companion Xialun Qing, a waitress he had met and rescued aboard Sun's gambling ship. Qing revealed her knowledge of medicine which she had gained during her short time as an aide to a doctor, and that she had created the poison darts for Yun's newly-designed blowpipe for Edward.[13]
Agreeing with the need for a doctor for the journey, Edward allowed the young lady to accompany them. Afterwards, the group – Edward, John, Yun, Saito, Qing, and Rupiya – boarded the Fenghuang and set sail for the Philippines, leaving Zhang behind in Macau to take care of the company's headquarters.[13]
Voyage to the Philippines
As the Fenghuang approached Manila, it suddenly came under attack by the fleet of Admiral Jeong, a mercenary in the employ of Lee Huiyin. Thanks to Yun's latest invention – fire barrels which exploded on impact – the Union members were able to cause considerable damage to the enemy ships.[14] However, the Fenghuang was soon boarded by the Chinese Assassins Xiao Han, Liu Qing and Xue Yan, who were working with Lee to find Angkor's treasure.[15]
In the resulting chaos, John and the crew members were able to surround Liu Qing and hold him at gunpoint, while Edward dueled Xiao Han and Saito battled Xue Yan.[15] After both Xiao Han and Xue Yan were defeated, the Chinese Assassins retreated back to Jeong's ship. Edward then ordered Rupiya to sail the Fenghuang into an incoming storm to lose their pursuers, and while navigating through the storm, Qing tended to the crew members who had been injured during the fight with the Chinese Assassins.[16]
Once the Fenghuang made it out of the storm, it was attacked by one of Jeong's ships that had managed to follow the crew. However, the enemy ship was quickly sunk by a Dutch East India Company vessel commanded by Jan van Aert, who had learned about Edward's expedition and decided to accompany him.[16] After Jan revealed that he was fully aware of the expedition's goal to find Angkor, Edward reluctantly allowed him to join the Union members in their quest, though both he and Saito remained suspicious of Jan's true motives.[17]
Later, Yun managed to recreate the formula for Greek fire, which the Chinese Assassins had used in their attack on the Fenghuang, and Edward suggested making a stop in Java to acquire petroleum, which would allow them to produce larger quantities of the substance. Before they had the chance to do so, however, both the Fenghuang and Jan's ship were attacked by two Spanish Men O' War, forcing them to surrender.[17]
Escape from Manila
The crews of the two ships were subsequently brought to Manila, where they were arrested by the Spanish authorities due to Jan's alleged involvement in the assassination of the Governor-General of the Philippines, Fernando Manuel de Bustillo Bustamante y Rueda, six years prior.[17] While Jan and his men were imprisoned in the dungeon underneath Fort Santiago, the Union members were forced to remain inside the Fenghuang, under heavy guard.[18]
During their imprisonment, John managed to learn the circumstances surrounding Bustamante's assassination, informing the others that the Governor-General had been killed in a riot by followers of the Archbishop of Manila. Edward then decided to stage an escape and had Qing distract the guards by bringing them food. With the guards preoccupied, Edward and Saito escaped the Fenghuang and reclaimed their confiscated weapons, before the Assassin took advantage of an ongoing protest to infiltrate Fort Santiago.[18]
While Edward rescued Jan and his crew from the fort, Saito spotted a monk using a Piece of Eden, the Crescent amulet, to influence the masses and turn the protest into a violent riot. Once she was reunited with Edward, Saito told him about the amulet and the two decided to face the monk together and take the artifact from him.[18] Cornering him in alley, they killed his followers after he refused to hand over the amulet, but to their surprise, the monk then used the artifact's powers to resurrect his acolytes.[19]
Realizing that the resurrected monks were resistant to pain and that the only way to stop them was to dismember them, Edward and Saito proceeded to do so. However, the monk leader then used the amulet on Saito, causing her to experience visions of her deceased friends.[20] After the monk used the amulet to conjure apparitions of himself and an oni, Saito was eventually defeated while Edward was able to overcome the artifact's powers and confronted the monk.[21]
At the same as Edward and Saito's fight against the monk, the remaining Union members engaged in a shootout against Spanish soldiers at the harbor, in order to retrieve their confiscated supplies. In the process, they discovered a warehouse filled with barrels of petroleum, which Yun promptly ordered to be loaded aboard the Fenghuang.[20]
Edward's departure
- Edward: "It won't be long until we leave Macau."
- Zhang: "Of course, Mister Kenway. This place is in good hands. On my world, we'll never forget our debt to you. No matter where you are in the world... We will do everything we can to help you, Mister Kenway."
- —Edward and Zhang, prior to the former's departure, 1725.[src]-[m]
The Fenghuang crew eventually returned to Macau, though Edward was forced to leave the city for good not long after. Before that, he met with Zhang one final time to officially appoint him the head of the Union. Zhang assured the Assassin that his organization would remain in good hands and promised that they would find a way to continue helping him, wherever he was in the world.[22]
Modern times
By the 21st century, the Zhang Wei Union had grown far beyond its humble roots, holding influence throughout all of Southeast Asia and establishing multiple regional branches, such as the Macau-based Zhawang Corporation led by Claire Zhang.[23] It also began working with the Assassins more closely, with a number of Union members having direct ties to the Brotherhood, such as Nathan Zhang.[24]
In 2023, the Zhawang Corporation learned of Noa Kim, a descendant of Edward who had been kidnapped by the Templar company Abstergo Industries to explore Edward's genetic memories in search of the Piece of Eden he had found. Unwilling to abandon a member of their "family", Claire and Nathan worked together to try and rescue Noa.[23]
During a trip to the A-Ma Cultural Village with the Templar Shimazu Sei, Noa was approached by two Corporation agents while Sei and her bodyguards came under attack by members of the Doom Eagle criminal organization working for Nathan. The agents tried to convince Noa to leave with them, but as the young man wished to uncover his family roots by exploring Edward's memories, he refused. The agents eventually let Noa go after a brief scuffle and he returned to Abstergo after defeating Nathan's thugs to protect Sei.[3]
When the agents contacted their superior to let him know what had happened, he decided to respect Noa's decision to be left alone for the time being.[3] At their superior's request, the agents then continued to keep watch on Noa and found that he was being held aboard the Exitus research vessel. When the ship left Macau and sailed to the Philippines, one of the agents contacted Claire to update her on the situation before his phone was snatched away by Nathan, who convinced Claire to let him and Doom Eagle handle Noa's rescue.[23]
Following the Exitus to Cebu, Nathan and his men organized an ambush on the Abstergo convoy containing Noa and Sei.[25] However, the pair managed to escape the ambush and fled into a shopping mall, where Nathan's thugs pursued them.[26] After Noa dispatched several of the thugs, he and Sei were confronted by Nathan, who challenged Noa to a fight.[27] During their fight, Noa was informed by Nathan that his father was also a member of the Union, as well as an Assassin, who had been forced to abandon his family to protect them from the Templars.[24]
Ultimately, Nathan defeated Noa, but chose to respect his wishes to follow his own path, and escaped before Sigma Team arrived and secured Noa.[24] Nathan later called Claire to inform her of his failed rescue operation, though he assured her that, when the time came, Noa would side with his "family" and deliver the Piece of Eden sought by Abstergo to the Union.[14]
Members
- 18th century
- Edward Kenway (founder)[1]
- John Young[1]
- Rupiya[13]
- Shimazu Saito[12]
- Xialun Qing[13]
- Yun Pyeong-Gyu[6]
- Zhang (acting leader)[10]
- Modern times
- Claire Zhang (Zhawang Corporation director)[23]
- Nathan Zhang[24]
- Noa Kim's father[24]
Allies and puppets
- 18th century
Gallery
-
A flag with the Union's logo -
The Union's headquarters in 1725 -
Rupiya and his crew joining the Union -
Edward and John celebrating Yun's recruitment to the Union -
Edward, John and Zhang meeting in Zhang's office -
Members of the Union aboard the Fenghuang -
The Union members deciphering Hendrik's sea log
Appearances
References
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||