Imperial Protectorate actions: Enemy of the Han
This is an action that only the Imperial Protectorate can make. It costs 25 Imperial Favor and there’s a 10-turn cooldown. With this, you can target a faction that has 50 Imperial Favor or lower.
By marking them as an Enemy of the Han, they’ll incur diplomatic penalties with other Han factions. Others will even get a mission to destroy them completely.
Even better, defeating their forces in battle will no longer deduct Imperial Favor. Instead, you’ll be rewarded with this resource.
Note: However, looting and sacking settlements will still result in deductions.
You can make use of this effectively as Cao Cao if you own Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided. Just declare Yuan Shao as an Enemy of the Han, then start advancing north to beat down his armies.
Conversely, guys like Yuan Shao and Liu Bei would do well to keep Imperial Favor high. Although I’ve never experienced it, there might be a chance that Cao Cao declares you as an Enemy of the Han if you reach 50 Imperial Favor or below.
Imperial Decrees
The Imperial Protectorate can also issue an Imperial Decree via the diplomacy panel -> diplomatic treaties. By using 25 Imperial Favor, you can gain a huge chunk of positive factors to a particular deal. For instance, you could force someone to part with their ancillaries and territories.
This can also be used in conjunction with peace treaties (to nudge your former rivals into vassalage) and, in Cao Cao’s case, with the additional boost if you trade credibility. Heck, in Cao Cao’s campaign, you can even grab the Imperial Seal from Sun Ce on your first turn.
Prime Minister of the Han
This mechanic has been in play well before the Total War: Three Kingdoms – Fates Divided DLC’s release. Whoever controls the Han Emperor will be presented with a dilemma on what to do with him. Ideally, you should retain the Prime Minister position (don’t just banish or kill poor Liu Xie).
This choice fires one year after you’ve held the Han Emperor, and every three years (15 turns thereafter), assuming you didn’t execute or banish him. Likewise, it confers amazing boosts to prestige, satisfaction, and peasantry income at the cost of lower diplomatic relations with the other Han factions.
Do remember that it’s possible for the Han Emperor to escape your clutches, too. This can occur if other warlords have higher prestige or more territories, and also if your Imperial Favor has dropped considerably. This is the “hot potato” mechanic first seen in Total War: Three Kingdoms – A World Betrayed.
Anyway, let’s talk about the missions issued by the Han.
