Chang Munmu

Chang Munmu (Seomun: 張文武, Jinmun: 장문무; 277-356 AC) was a Zhenian, , , and businessman during Zhenia's Eastern Zhen dynasty. Being the direct descendant of Chang Museon, the former naval commander of Zhuhae that was ousted from the city and resettled in the Eastern Zhen centuries before his birth, he became a successful naval commander of the Eastern Zhen. At age 32, after becoming the Governor of Gwangseong, Chang led a series of anti-piracy campaigns against Balhae pirates in the Gulf of Danguk and the North Zhenian Sea, in cooperation with the Republic of Zhuhae. With his base on modern-day Gwangseong, he led a series of expeditions to previously uncharted regions and established a network of maritime trade routes throughout the western Hanmaric Ocean, with Gwangseong at its center.

Serving as the Governor of Gwangseong for several years after his anti-piracy campaigns, Chang Munmu managed the newly-stabilized trade routes and contributed greatly to the growth of Gwangseong as a major port at the center of the maritime trade routes, with the city gaining immense amounts of wealth during his rule and management. Although being part of the Eastern Zhen, Gwangseong grew into the economic and military heart of a facing the North Zhenian Sea. Some historians speculate that Chang's method of managing the city of Gwangseong at the time was the earliest examples of an international corporation, although such claims have come under dispute. While also managing the city, he led additional expeditions to establish new diplomatic relations on behalf the Eastern Zhen and Gwangseong, extending as west as modern-day Abayad. However, with the growth of the city's financial, economic and military power looked down upon in fear by the emperor and numerous statesmen of the Eastern Zhen, Chang handed Gwangseong over to his two sons in 340 AC and led a final voyage bound to modern-day Toli Abayad. The fleet, however, confronted a on the way near the eastern coasts of Abayad, resulting in the disappearance of a majority of the fleet, with Admiral Chang assumed dead: the wreck of his ship was not discovered until 1601 AC by a team of Zhenian and Abayadi marine archaeologists off the coast of Abayad, around 180 meters beneath the surface.

Early life and family
Chang Munmu was born as Chang Manseo with two younger brothers as well as three sisters. It has been known that his grandfather was Chang Museon, a former naval commander and political heavyweight of the city-state of Zhuhae. Despite his relatively bright ancestry, not too much is known about his background, although it has been commonly accepted that Chang's family was not among the noble or the richer classes in Gwangseong. There are a number of postulations regarding his background, although none as of yet have been accepted wholly due to inadequate evidence.

Adulthood and military career
Records claim that Chang Munmu joined the ranks of the Eastern Zhen's army at around age 15, when his military career began.

Managing Gwangseong
While he often stood at the forefront of managing some of the expeditions himself, Chang Munmu also retained control over Gwangseong as its governor-general. A renewed appointment into the rank of governor-general by the Eastern Zhen's imperial court allowed greater autonomy upon the city with less interference from the central government, leaving Chang with more authority to exert upon the city's affairs at his disposal. In addition, he was granted the position for life as well as the rights to appoint his successors, a privilege that existed until his death. For such reasons, some historians consider the period of Chang Munmu's rule over Gwangseong as an era of quasi-independence for the city, a claim that has been significantly disputed in modern times.

Under Chang's leadership, Gwangseong rose as a major trading hub in the maritime trade network along the western Hanmaric Ocean, spanning from modern-day Bukju and the Haedong Islands to modern-day Zhuhae and southeast Tarsis.

Fifth expedition and death




On May 7, 341 AC, Chang Munmu led his fifth and final voyage along the maritime trade routes traversing the western Hanmaric Ocean and extending to Ayeran and Abayad. Records suggest that 23 of the 72-ship fleet under the command of Gwangseong, including his flagship, the Haeryong, were in the voyage when the fleet departed the Port of Gwangseong that day, while most of the control over the city had already been transferred to his two sons in advance. Although his true destination remains unknown to this day, surviving records of Gwangseong's maritime registry include Zhuhae, Bukit Singa and Toli Abayad (then Qabl) as major resupplying stops, while Chang's letter to Emperor Munjong has also mentioned his diplomatic mission to Abayad as one of the key objectives of the voyage, making many speculate that the intended destination of the voyage was modern-day Abayad. Some maritime historians, pointing out Chang's works suggesting the existence of a 'continent of gold and jade' to the far west, claim that it was another expeditionary voyage to expand Gwangseong's reach and the trade routes he had established.

The fleet arrived in Zhuhae Island on July 1, 341 AC, departing a week later: during his week of staying in Zhuhae, Chang confronted the Chancellor of Zhuhae in the Chancellor's Palace, although the contents of the discourse remains a great mystery to this day. Ayerani records suggest that the arrival of Chang's fleet was no earlier than December, while he also departed modern-day Bukit Singa in less than five days. Abayadi records also suggest that his fleet successfully arrived at Toli Abayad (then Qabl) on April 14, 342 AC, also departing roughly a week later. The remaining months of his voyage from Abayad is unknown, although only 2 of the 23 ships that initially departed Gwangseong showed up again in Toli Abayad two months after their departure from the city - surviving crew members, according to Abayadi texts surviving to this day, have described "towers of seawater and storm striking the fleet" and "a sea serpent bringing the flagship down, along with the Maritime King himself", which has been interpreted as the fleet encountering a cyclone on their way, leaving very few survivors.

The death of Chang Munmu has remained a much-shrouded and mysterious event, as well as the sources of various conspiracy theories regarding his fate, prior to the discovery of the wreck of his flagship off the western coast of modern-day Abayad in 1601 AC, in what is now known as the Munmu Fleet Wreck and Archaeological Site in the Sea of Azad. The discovery of the fleet's wreckage, although his body was nowhere to be found, has aided in solving a considerable number of mysteries surrounding the details of his fifth and final voyage to the west.

Zhenia
Chang Munmu in Zhenia is widely regarded as a leading figure who laid the groundwork for the flourishing of maritime trade routes throughout the Gulf of Danguk and the western Hanmaric Ocean in the nation's middle ages, through extensive anti-piracy operations around Zhenian waters as well as spearheading the diplomatic effort needed to establish trading routes. He is commonly but informally referred to in Zhenian history as the 'Maritime King' (Zhenian: 해상왕), due to his milestone and largely irreversible achievements in Zhenian maritime history. Chang Munmu is one of the few non-monarch individuals in pre-modern Zhenian history that are commemorated at the government level: Trade Day, an anniversary date dedicated to the nation's trades, has been designated as March 30 on behalf of Chang Munmu's birthday, while he is one of the few individuals in Zhenian history whose defamation can be punished by law nationwide. A significant number of public squares and other public areas, especially in coastal cities, have statues or memorials commemorating Chang and his accomplishments. Some temples of Zhenian Wuism equalize Chang Munmu to Gaonmir, the deity overseeing the realm of the future and the sea, claiming that Chang remains to protect the Zhenian people as the spirit of the sea.

Within the House of Chang, Chang Munmu is also credited with beginning the family's long lineage of maritime expeditions and naval service. Starting from Chang Munmu himself, a majority of his descendants served in the navies of the entities in the Danguk Peninsula. Chang Munmu's most notable descendants include Chang Handeok, who eventually became the Grand Admiral of Shindan and led several maritime expeditions across the Hanmaric to Veharia, Chang Hongseon, Shindanese Admiral during the Wars of Zhenian Transition and Chang Jongmun, who served in the Republic of Zhenia Navy during the Third Republic and laid the fundamentals of Zhenia's navy to this day.

There have been several media portrayals of Chang Munmu, ranging from Shindan-era epic poems detailing his life and accomplishments, Gunseol novels with detailed biographies, murals and sculptures depicting major scenes of his life to a large number of modern films, television dramas, novels, comics and even novels exploring alternate scenarios associated with Admiral Chang. Among the most notable modern portrayals include Admiral Chang: The Maritime Juggernaut, a 1600 musical depicting his life and death, as well as how his legacy was continued after his much-shrouded and mysterious death.

Claims and conspiracies
In modern years, there have been claims that some of Chang's lesser-known expeditions, particularly in the detail-shrouded fourth expedition, that Chang was one of the first Zhenians to discover the Kapukuan archipelago as well as modern-day western Veharia. Some claims take a step further that, with the global flow of the currents, that Chang Munmu and his fleet had the planet for the first time in human history during their fourth expedition, almost five centuries before the current record.