Zhang Xieren

Zhang Xieren (born 12th of May, 1877), also known as ' The Grand Commandant' , is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Korrukkan state-owned conglomerate  'West Pahadan Rail and Automata Arms'  and 'Grand Commandant' of the SECOND (Southern Economic Co-Operation and Native Development) Initiative.

Early Life
Xieren was born in the city of Xuangong in the Xia province of the Clockwork Empire, to constable Zhang Xuequan and an unknown woman, most likely a prostitute.

He attended a 'Tuchun' military academy due to his father's personal connections and underwent a rigorous schooling and regimen due to it.

In 1893 despite only being 16 years old, Xieren fabricated documents and identification papers, including a fake signature on behalf of his father, and signed up as a volunteer in the Korrukkan army. He served on the front with Ibrahama and it was here in the winter of 1897, nearing the war's end, he lost his lower left leg from the knee downwards as a result of an amputation deemed necessary by field medics after his calf had been destroyed by a grenade.

Returning to Xuangong at the end of the war, Xieren bounced from employment to employment; normally in the city's constabulary. In Xuangong he also acquired his first prosthetic leg, a simple peg-leg made out of wood.

By 1899, Xieren had married his childhood sweetheart, Zhao Chungui, after her original arranged match perished in the Great War.

The Great Undertaking: 1900 - 1911
As a result of Chungui's familial connections to members of the Clockwork's bureaucracy, Zhang found work in the 'Great Undertaking' in Tungnir. 'Legless' and needing employment, he took up the offer. What was a stab in the dark turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Joining the project as a junior administrator Zhang Xieren found himself excelling in the tasks provided. The organisation of resources, the construction of cities and his underhanded efforts in 'domesticating' the local population proved so influential and so astounding to the governmental officials behind the Steppe Revitilsation Programme, the Emperor had caught wind of his success and had him appointed first to Vice Commandant in 1907 and then Grand Commandant in 1908.

Accumulating wealth and prestige as Grand Commandant of the Great Undertaking, Xieren had himself and his family set up in one of the designed cities in Tungnir. It was here with his new found position and funds that he improved his own prosthetic limb to something more grandiose, an impressive steam-powered artificial limb that has since become a signature of his person.

The SECOND Initiative: 1912 -
In 1912, following the Emperor's Pahadan Campaigns, Zhang Xieren was appointed Grand Commandant of the SECOND Initiative and assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer of West Pahadan Rail and Automata Arms, where he has expanded Imperial ambition to accumulate numerous vassals and fulfill the desires of his state.

Personal Life
Zhang is a devout follower of the Worship of the Five. He told a Korrukkan journalist that he felt "a personal connection to Huri" because of his lack of a mother during his up-bringing.

He has three children with his wife Chungui; Xuezheng, Huaimin and Zuolin.

Xieren is known for a ferocious temper when dealing with tasks he does not enjoy, an addiction to laudanum stemming from using it as a pain-killer on the battlefield and for his mechanical leg.