Zhang Yong

"China is just a piece in the prize. We will rule the world, and the box you so kindly presented us, will be yet another tool to achieve a time of peace."

―Zhang Yong, elaborating on the Templars' goal of world domination, 1532.^[src]^-[m]

Zhang Yong (張永; 1470 – 1532) was the leader of the Eight Tigers, a group of powerful Templar eunuchs that controlled the Chinese imperial court during the Ming dynasty.

Biography[]

Early activities[]

Starting out as Liu Jin's right-hand man, Zhang Yong harbored ambitions to usurp control over the Empire in the name of the Templar Order and betrayed Liu Jin, framing him for an assassination attempt against the Zhengde Emperor. The plan succeeded and, after Liu Jin's execution via lingchi in 1510, Zhang Yong became the new leader of the Tigers.^[1]

With the Zhengde Emperor's death in 1521, Zhang Yong and his fellow Tigers installed a new Emperor on the throne, who would serve as their puppet: the late Emperor's cousin, Zhu Houcong.^[1]

In the following years, Zhang Yong set up the Great Rites Controversy to eradicate his rivals in court, and had his minions Wei Bin and Qiu Ju murder or exile many of the Tigers' political opponents. The Tigers also hunted down and executed countless members of the Chinese Brotherhood of Assassins.^[1]

By 1524, the Chinese Assassins had been all but eradicated, allowing Zhang Yong and the Tigers to rule the country virtually unopposed. After this victory, Zhang Yong retired from active service in the Imperial court but continued to pull the strings of power from the shadows, manipulating individuals like Yan Song.^[1]

Hunting the Assassins[]

"There will no rebirth of the Assassins' Brotherhood. You have no friends left. The last person alive who you thought you could trust betrayed you. That is how we wiped out your kind! So trusting of others, so weak and pathetic! The same qualities your Master showed just before I killed him."

―Zhang Yong to Shao Jun during their confrontation in the Forbidden City, 1530.^[src]^-[m]

By January 1529, Zhang Yong had caught wind of the Assassins' return to China, after Shao Jun and her Mentor Wang Yangming had eliminated three of the Tigers: Gao Feng,^[2] Ma Yongcheng,^[3] and Gu Dayong.^[4] Knowing the Assassins to be in possession of a Precursor box, Zhang Yong correctly predicted that Yangming would travel to Nan'an to meet a contact who possessed knowledge about similar relics, in the hopes of uncovering the box's secrets.^[5]

Hunted China (5) — Zhang Yong reclaiming the Precursor box from the deceased Wang Yangming

Heading to the city alongside Qiu Ju, Zhang Yong ambushed Yangming when the Mentor arrived to meet his contact near a Buddhist temple.^[6] Although Yangming managed to fend off the Templars' soldiers for a time,^[7] he was eventually bested by Zhang Yong himself, who impaled him with his sword. The Tiger leader then retrieved the Precursor box from Yangming's body and left after ordering his men to deal with Shao Jun, who had arrived too late to save her Mentor.^[8]

In 1530, Zhang Yong and Qiu Ju learned about Shao Jun's friendship with Empress Zhang and used this information to set a trap for the Assassin. They forced the Empress to lure Shao Jun to the Forbidden City, where the Templars ambushed her.^[9] Zhang Yong claimed that the Empress had betrayed Shao Jun, but the Assassin saw through his lie and forgave her friend, understanding that her own life had been at stake.^[10]

In response, Zhang Yong expressed disgust at the Assassins' faith in others, which he claimed to have been the cause of their downfall, and stated that the Brotherhood's rebirth would not happen. He then left Qiu Ju to deal with Shao Jun, though he, like all the other Tigers, would also meet his end at the Assassin's blade.^[10]

Death[]

Zhang Yong: "Your box is lost, Assassin, already out of China, in the safe hands of my fellow Templars."

Shao Jun: "Then another Assassin will find the box. That will be their destiny. Mine lies here with you."

—Zhang Yong and Shao Jun, shortly before the former's death, 1532.^[src]^-[m]

Vengeance China (1) — Shao Jun confronting Zhang Yong atop the Great Wall

By 1532, Zhang Yong, as the last surviving Tiger, planned to let Altan Khan and his Mongol Empire invade China in exchange for a seat in power after the outcome. He thus opened the gates of the Great Wall to facilitate the Mongol invasion, but his plan was thwarted by Shao Jun and her apprentice Kotetsu, who helped the Ming guards close back the gates.^[11]

Shao Jun then confronted Zhang Yong, who claimed that her actions would lead the Mongols to believe they had been betrayed, resulting in a full-scale assault. He also revealed that he had given the Precursor box to other Templars outside of China, to keep it out of the Assassins' hands. Shao Jun rebutted that retrieving the box was another Assassin's destiny and that hers was to eliminate Zhang Yong.^[12]

At that moment, the Mongols began to attack the Great Wall using catapults, allowing Zhang Yong to flee during the commotion.^[13] However, his attempt to escape ultimately proved futile, as Shao Jun soon caught up with the Templar and impaled him with her sword.^[12]

Vengeance China (6) — Zhang Yong's final moments

As Zhang Yong lay dying, he asked Shao Jun if achieving vengeance for the deaths of her fellow Assassins felt like she had hoped. Shao Jun replied that, although she had started her journey with the goal of revenge, she had since found a better goal: the future. She then vowed to rebuild the Chinese Brotherhood and undo everything Zhang Yong had done, as the Templar finally passed away.^[12]

Behind the scenes[]

Zhang Yong is a historical character introduced as the main antagonist and final assassination target of the 2015 video game Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China. He was voiced by the English actor Robert Vernon, who also voiced Qiu Ju. Although the game portrays his death as occurring in 1532, according to History of Ming, Zhang Yong historically died in 1529.^[14]

In Chinese, Zhang Yong's name is written as 張永. Zhāng (張) is a common Chinese family name that means 'to open up, to stretch, to extend' and is also employed as the measure word for flat objects such as paper or cloth. However, its etymology is an allusion to archery as it originally referred to 'stretching a bow'. His personal name, Yǒng (永), means 'eternity'.

In Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun, the 2019 manga adaptation of Chronicles: China, Zhang Yong's role in the story is significantly reduced. He is not the one to kill Wang Yangming, instead assigning this task to Qiu Ju (who was not present for the ambush in the game). He is also entirely absent from Qiu Ju's confrontation with Shao Jun, and in the final confrontation atop the Great Wall, he is killed after the tower he was standing on collapses, thus omitting the chase sequence from the game.