Lord S.sring-gal
Lord Tsjêng-gar (Shinasthana: 清河君市, tsjêng-gar-kjur-djê′; d. Jul. 2, 1357) was a Themiclesian merchant, aristocrat, and military officer.
Very little is known about Tsjêng-gar's origins other than he owned a fleet that imported Meridian wines and tapestries to Themiclesia and exported vessels and ironware to Maracaibo for gold. It is possible that he was one of the wealthiest men in Themiclesia in the 14th century, due to a reference to him in a courtier's letter to the emperor.
In 1334, he was granted the title of Governor-general of Military Affairs in the South Sea (都督南海諸軍事) and a courtesy rank of 2,000-bushels at the royal court, in a period when Themiclesia's fleet had been defeated at the Battle of Portcullia (1325). The defeat deprived Themiclesia's key naval port, Portcullia, and broke the monopoly on Maracaibean trade, whose reputation as a source of cheap gold then rapidly spread to the world. In his nine years in office, he frequently stayed in Meridia, while tending to his business, and raised money and found skilled and unskilled men for the Themiclesian fleet.
He maintained a force of at least 4,000 men spread in ten locations, consisting of locals with a sprinkling of Themiclesians, out of the coffers into which he poured a considerable amount of his private money. These men were furnished by friendly Meridian merchants weary of growing Menghean power in the nearby waters. A portion of these men were carried by the Themiclesian fleet as njung-njing or passengers, and for this reason Tsjêng-gar is sometimes considered the first known officer of the Themiclesian Marine Corps, which is often said to be founded in 1318. Nevertheless, there is no evidence that his troops fought any major engagements or that he was personally present for any of them.
He resigned this office in 1343, and it appears the office was discontinued with no further holders. After Themiclesia was defeated again at the Battle of Tups in 1352, he submitted a letter to the Emperor and claimed that:
Iniquity has increased under Your Majesty's reign, for the strong man has contended himself with the weak man's burden, while the weak man has been forced to shoulder the strong man's burden. Elders, lords, and other men of high rank have forsaken Your Majesty's enterprise in the high seas and left the same to the resourceless and pitiable, or to their deterioration. Many of Your Majesty's obedient subjects are aghast at the injustice and depravity of Your Majesty's court.
He died in 1357, in Kien-k'ang.