Legions of identical stone warriors march in lockstep. They have no fear, no mercy and no soul. They exist only to follow orders and serve the Emperor.
The Emperor has his Golden Legion, recruited from every prefecture across the great Empire, they are the biggest army in the Eastern Hemisphere. He has his Golden Sentinels, The Emperor’s personal guard. Trained to be an elite force and still larger than the army of any one prefecture.
These are powerful strategic pieces but the Emperor’s reign is secure and he expands his borders using the bǎi qiān. Untold phalanxes of warriors created and animated by the powers of unique sorcerers, loyal only to the Emperor himself. Those with the potential to become fangshi are found using tarot divination and haruspexy when they are newly born and imperial teishin appear to evaluate the child and take those worthy to be educated and trained by the Emperor’s own tutors.
The unworthy are taken and grow up to serve the legion too… inside a terracotta statue.