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The Widow Maung
The Red Emperor was the first emperor of Nikan. He brought the empire together for the first time, making it strong by uniting various warring factions. He’s also responsible for annexing Speer by getting the Speerlies addicted to opium. In the centuries since the Red Emperor’s rule, no other rulers have been able to replicate the national strength and unity he oversaw.
The Red Emperor Quotes in The Poppy War
The The Poppy War quotes below are all either spoken by The Red Emperor or refer to The Red Emperor. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
“But once he [trusts you]? You start plying him with opium—just a little bit at first, though I doubt he’s never smoked before. Then you give him more and more every day. Do it at night right after he’s finished with you, so he always associates it with pleasure and power.
“Give him more and more until he is fully dependent on it, and on you. Let it destroy his body and mind. You’ll be more or less married to a breathing corpse, yes, but you will have his riches, his estates, and his power.”
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Chapter 3
Quotes
Rin had always wondered whether the loss of Speer was purely an accident. If any other province had been destroyed the way Speer had, the Nikara Empire wouldn’t have stopped with a peace treaty. They would have fought until the Federation of Mugen was in pieces.
But the Speerlies weren’t really Nikara at all. Tall and brown-skinned, they were an island people who had always been ethnically separate from the Nikara mainlanders. They spoke their own language, wrote in their own script, and practiced their own religion. They had joined the Imperial Militia only at the Red Emperor’s sword point.
This all pointed to strained relations between the Nikara and the Speerlies all the way up through the Second Poppy War. So, Rin thought, if any Nikara territory had to be sacrificed, Speer was the obvious choice.
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Chapter 14
Quotes
“I think Tearza was wise. And I think that she was a bad ruler. Shamans should know when to resist the power of the gods. That is wisdom. But rulers should do everything in their power to save their country. That is responsibility. If you hold the fate of the country in your hands, if you have accepted your obligation to your people, then your life ceases to be your own. Once you accept the title of ruler, your choices are made for you. In those days, to rule Speer meant serving the Phoenix. Speer used to be a proud race. A free people. when Tearza killed herself, the Speerlies became little more than the Emperor’s mad dogs. Tearza has the blood of Speer on her hands. Tearza deserved what she got.”
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The Red Emperor Character Timeline in The Poppy War
The timeline below shows where the character The Red Emperor appears in The Poppy War. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...pessimistically lectures that while the Old Nikara Empire “was the birthplace of modern civilization,” the Red Emperor ’s death led to fighting. This fighting ultimately led to the Poppy Wars of the...
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Chapter 4
...why Speer was bombed, but Yim insists on starting with Speer’s annexation centuries ago. The Red Emperor stormed the island and turned the Speerlies into the empire’s most frightening fighting force—until the...
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Chapter 9
...what they’re looking for. There used to be lots of monasteries with shamans, but the Red Emperor did away with them. And in a modernizing world, he notes, the gods don’t have...
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Chapter 23
...the Chuluu Korikh from The Seejin Classification of Deities. It describes how, long before the Red Emperor ’s time, the people could barely figure out how to survive in Nikan. The gods...
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...records of the thousands of people and gods here, some who were immured before the Red Emperor ’s reign. Altan acknowledges that no one could stop all these spirits, if they were...
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Chapter 24
...precedent for “us[ing] opium to control a population,” and the Nikara did it first: the Red Emperor sent opium to Speer and almost instantly got the Speerlies addicted. That’s how Nikan kept...
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