During the era of regional warlords, the Great Sheng Dynasty had effectively split apart. In the north, the Yanji Military Commissioner controlled Hebei; in the south, the Jianghuai Transport Commissioner held the empire’s finances; and in the southwest, the Jiannan Surveillance Commissioner relied on his region’s natural defenses to rule independently. The emperor tried to restore the central government’s authority by forming the Divine Strategy New Army, but this sparked an irreconcilable conflict of interests with the warlords.
