Ming military

The Ming military was the armed forces of the Ming dynasty of China.

History[edit | edit source]

After the ascension of the Jiajing Emperor in 1521, secretly backed by the Chinese Rite of the Templar Order,^[1] the Ming military was used by the Templars during their purge of the Chinese Brotherhood, hunting Assassins throughout the country.^[2] A number of Ming soldiers pursued the survivors Zhu Jiuyuan and Shao Jun to Italy, where they ambushed and killed the former in Venice,^[3] but the soldiers were later slain by the combined efforts of Shao Jun and Ezio Auditore.^[4]

Following Shao Jun's return to China, the Ming military served as the main obstacle between her and exacting revenge on the Eight Tigers, the Templar eunuchs who held influence over the Jiajing Emperor and were responsible for the Chinese Brotherhood's purge.^[5] Ming soldiers protected Gao Feng at the Maijishan Grottoes,^[6] Gu Dayong in Macau,^[7]^[8] and Wei Bin in Nan'an, though most of them were unaware of their masters' true affiliation or the reason why Shao Jun was hunting them.^[9]

Under the Templars' commands, the Ming military committed several atrocites and even outright acts of treason, setting Macau's port aflame on Qiu Ju's orders,^[10]^[11] and opening the gates of the Great Wall to facilitate the Mongols' attempted invasion of China after Zhang Yong formed an alliance with Altan Khan.^[12] Fortunately, a number of loyal Ming soldiers, with the help of Shao Jun and her apprentice Kotetsu, were able to repel the Mongol invasion and close back the Wall's gates.^[13]^[14]