Kao Meng De

Patriarch of the Kao clan, which ruled Tsao-Wa province in Northwest Fa-Bul, during the reign of His Magnificence, Kai Tsao Shou Lung Xsia Chin, Who Soars with Dragons and Rules All Under Heaven. Kao was a devotee of Sung Chiang, revering the God of Thieves as a paragon of human achievement; a divine example of promotion by way of ability rather than birthright.

Kao had powerful allies throughout the Empire, in particular he had a strong bond with the Liang clan by way of Liang Jian Min's daughter Shu Zhen, whom Kao took as a wife. By way of showing honor and favor to Jian Min, Kao had his second wife poisoned and turned into a frog, then exiled to Gin-Koku-Shima. In this way Kao was able to install Shu Zhen in his second wife's place, rather than allow the daughter of a powerful samurai languish as a mere concubine.

Though in name Liang Shu Zhen was Meng De's wife, she was actually the lover of (and in love with) Lord Kao's third son, Zi Huan.

History

Born to low station, Kao studied the classics and the writings of Shang-Ti from an early age. As a youth he was a devotee of Shang-Ti, believing firmly that the path to betterment lay through the accumulation of knowledge. By way of his studies, Meng De entered the civil service and worked his way up through the ranks as a local official.

Soon, Meng De encountered corruption -- not only among the bureaucrats, but among those who were supposed to have the most virtue: the noble lords of the land. After one too many encounters with nobles who were anything but, Meng De experienced a philosophical revelation. He began to take up worship of Sung Chiang, not out of veneration of thievery or corruption, but because of Sung Chiang's less-explored aspects of self-betterment and achievement through ability. In time, Meng De became wealthy enough to own land, and by the time he was ready to take his first wife he had become the most powerful landowner in Tsao-Wa province. By imperial decree, he became Lord not long after.

Relationships with Other Lords

Meng De took his first wife, Quiang Xin, from a former rival in Tsao-Wa. While originally meant to have been a marriage of alliance with the Quiang family, such an alliance is no longer necessary on account of the Quiangs having been all but absorbed into the Kao clan.

Meng De's second wife, Li Chuei, was also the product of a now-worthless alliance with the Li family. When the opportunity arose to marry Liang Jian Min's daughter to seal and alliance with the Liang clan, Meng De had Chuei turned into a frog and exiled to Gin-Koku-Shima, allowing Liang Shu Zhen to take her place as his second wife.

Meng De befriended Lord Wing Xu while they were in the civil service together, but Meng De's eventual disgust with the noble class caused this friendship to suffer from some neglect. Still, officially speaking, the Kao clan and the Wing clan are on good terms.

Children

Meng De's oldest son, Kao Yan, born of Kao's first wife Xin, has all but officially become Lord Kao's heir apparent. Yan is involved in all affairs of state and has inherited his father's cunning and political accumen.

Kao's second son, Kao Lui, is also the son of first wife Xin. While unremarkable compared with Kao Yan, he nonetheless is considered an excellent specimen of Lord Kao's pedigree. (the irony of any discussions of his "pedigree" are not lost on Lord Kao, given the way he feels about nobility-by-right-of-birth, though he does tend to ignore them)

Born after Lui were the fraternal twins Yulai, a daughter, and Zi Huan, a son. These two were born of third wife Pei; Yulai has value in the household as Lord Kao's only daughter, but Zi Huan is the third son and therefore somewhat unimportant.