If not Yeung Siu, then whom (not CMG) among their own would the Ming Cultists support

[Ken Cheng]

During the period before Cheung Mo Gei became their Cult Leader, the Ming Cultists refused to support Yeung Siu to be the leader because a number of members did not like Yeung personally (they disliked his haughty attitude towards them, and perhaps held various other personal grudges against him). Moreover, though Yeung Siu was one of the best martial artists in the cult, he was not clearly superior to all of them (Fan Yiu and Yan Teen Jing were his equals, at the very least).

But if not Yeung Siu, would the Ming Cult upper echelon and rank and file have supported any of their own to be the Cult Leader? Would they have accepted Fan Yiu (had Fan not gone undercover among the Yuan Dynasty leadership)? Would they have accepted Wai 1 Siu, or Tse Tsun? Was it just a matter of not liking and not supporting Yeung Siu personally, or were there bigger issues to consider than that?

[Mandred Skavenslayer]

By rank, Right Emissary was equal to Yeung Siu so would have stood an equal chance of assuming leadership.

By ability and clout Right Emissary, White Brow Eagle King and Golden Fur Lion King could compete with YS.

However I would say that Purple Cloak Dragon King would probably had stood the best chance, if she hadn't married the wrong person and turned out to be a spy.

Not only was she the first of the Four Guardian Kings, but also the adopted daughter of the previous leader. Add to that she had built a strong reputation in defending her father's honour and would definitely had had the support of Golden Fur Lion King.

[Ken Cheng]

By rank, Right Emissary was equal to Yeung Siu so would have stood an equal chance of assuming leadership.

By ability and clout Right Emissary, White Brow Eagle King and Golden Fur Lion King could compete with YS.

However I would say that Purple Cloak Dragon King would probably had stood the best chance, if she hadn't married the wrong person and turned out to be a spy.

Not only was she the first of the Four Guardian Kings, but also the adopted daughter of the previous leader. Add to that she had built a strong reputation in defending her father's honour and would definitely had had the support of Golden Fur Lion King.

Did the others like and trust her, however? That was Yeung Siu's main weakness: in terms of intellect and martial arts ability, he was qualified to be the Cult Leader, but the others didn't support him because they didn't like or trust him.

[Mandred Skavenslayer]

Did the others like and trust her, however? That was Yeung Siu's main weakness: in terms of intellect and martial arts ability, he was qualified to be the Cult Leader, but the others didn't support him because they didn't like or trust him.

She only had friction with the other cult members after she married Silver Leaf and was caught trying to entre the forbidden ground.

Before that she seemed to have got on quite well with everyone. Golden Fur Lion King treated her like a sister, the other 2 Kings respected her enough not to object to her being the head of the Four Guardian Kings.

Even the Right Emissary was in love with her at one point.

The only major player she didn't charm was YS.

If she did make a play for the leadership she was guaranteed the support of at least one, maybe two of the big players, neutrality of another two and potential opposition from only one.

[pannonian]

Yang Xiao and Xie Xun were the lorists in Ming Cult. Before his family's murder and his preoccupation with Cheng Kun, if Xie Xun cared to claim the leadership, he'd have had as much authority as Yang Xiao, and with more support.

[tape]

Fan Yao was probably most deserving of the position if you look back on it, as he was the only one that suffered for the Ming sect for 20+ years out of is own loyalty to the clan. He mutilated his own face after being known as a handsome man, pretended to be mute to spy on dangers to the Ming cult, and traveled across the world for the sake of the sect.

Xie Xun went on a crazy rampage for revenge (not entirely his fault of course), Yin Tianzheng left and established his own sect, Wei Yixiao seemingly just disappeared from the world, Yang Xiao seemed to be busy ensuring that his position was technically the highest in the cult, and Purple Dragon didn't give a rats *** about the Ming sect anyway.

From their actions after the disappearance of Yang Dingtian, it seems like none would really gather too much support from the others, since sincerity can be felt, and everyone had some sort of personal agenda that others could sense.

[Trien Chieu]

Chu Yuen Cheung (Zhu YuanZhang) held a very very low position in the Ming Cult and his martial art ability seem to be very ordinary. I wonder how can he overthrow Yeung Siu, someone who is way more powerful than him, to become a leader of the Ming Cult. If Cheung Mo Gei didn't leave and remain the the leader of the Ming Cult, I wonder whether Chu Yeun Cheung able to overthrow him like he did to Yeung Siu.

[Mandred Skavenslayer]

Anybody else think Yang Ding Tian's choice of successor was a bit strange?

Golden Fur Lion King didn't seem particularly outstanding, all the other major players could match him in ability.

YDT's own actions seems to contradict his choice:

He taught YS the secret martial art of the Cult
He adopted Purple Cloak Dragon King

By these actions he seemed to be grooming one of these two to takeover.

He never showed any special treatment to GFLK or showed any signs of favouring him.

The only reason I can think of was that Jin Yong wanted to give ZWJ a hereditary claim to the leadership.

[pannonian]

Xie Xun was as knowledgable in lore and history as Yang Xiao (see his recital of wulin history to Zhang Cuishan, and Persian Ming Cult history to Zhang Wuji), and he had a more mature and stable personality than Yang Xiao. Unlike Yang Xiao and Yin Tianzheng, Xie Xun was less obsesed with his own status and determined to lord it over others. His MA ability was enough to put him up for consideration, but his character made him the outstanding candidate.

[tape]

Xie Xun was as knowledgable in lore and history as Yang Xiao (see his recital of wulin history to Zhang Cuishan, and Persian Ming Cult history to Zhang Wuji), and he had a more mature and stable personality than Yang Xiao. Unlike Yang Xiao and Yin Tianzheng, Xie Xun was less obsesed with his own status and determined to lord it over others. His MA ability was enough to put him up for consideration, but his character made him the outstanding candidate.

I'm not sure about that, given his rampage in jianghu. Yang Xiao knew Miejue killed his lover and mother of his child, but he didn't seek revenge. The situations were different, but it does speak volumes of his character and maturity. Let's not forget Xie Xun chose revenge over brotherhood by stealing the Dragon Sabre from big brother Yin, which is a big no-no in the martial world.

And is someone wanting to be Sect leader worse than someone who didn't really care? I mean that's what we like to read about, where the nonchalant guy receives leadership over the tryhard know-it-all, but that really doesn't make sense. Yang Xiao seems superior in managing, tactics, and overall political cunning than Xie Xun does. He really was the perfect next candidate to me, and I don't understand why he wasn't chosen.

[Ken Cheng]

Anybody else think Yang Ding Tian's choice of successor was a bit strange?

Golden Fur Lion King didn't seem particularly outstanding, all the other major players could match him in ability.

YDT's own actions seems to contradict his choice:

He taught YS the secret martial art of the Cult
He adopted Purple Cloak Dragon King

By these actions he seemed to be grooming one of these two to takeover.

He never showed any special treatment to GFLK or showed any signs of favouring him.

The only reason I can think of was that Jin Yong wanted to give ZWJ a hereditary claim to the leadership.

I'm not sure about that, given his rampage in jianghu.

Up until his family was murdered by Sing Kwun, Tse Tsun seemed to be the friendliest, most personable member of the Ming Cult elite. Unlike most of the others, Tse Tsun didn't have any enemies among his brothers. He might have been Yeung Ding Teen's pick for no other reason than that all the others got along well with him.

[tape]

Up until his family was murdered by Sing Kwun, Tse Tsun seemed to be the friendliest, most personable member of the Ming Cult elite. Unlike most of the others, Tse Tsun didn't have any enemies among his brothers. He might have been Yeung Ding Teen's pick for no other reason than that all the others got along well with him.

Besides his friendship with Purple Robed Dragon, I don't really see any indication of his overall friendliness. Nobody really spoke about Xie Xun, and once they did, it's already biased because he is the godfather of their sect leader.

By siding with Purple Robed Dragon, I'd imagine that naturally made enemies with the people that didn't side with her, which was pretty much everybody. I can't imagine any of them really supporting any colleague for leadership, since they were all ambitious people.

[wkeej]

Let's make Xiao Zhao the leader of China Ming Cult.

[hyoyatika]

I think Xie Xun and Fan Yao would had gained the support of his peers.

YDT's choice wasn't weird. He probably made that decree in advance. He didn't expect his demise to be so early and probably was projecting that Xie Xun would had become much more powerful in terms of skills by the time he passed on. I think Xie Xun had strong leadership skills and despite his hot-headedness, he was still largely guided by principles and logic.

I don't think we can blame YTZ for setting up his eagle clan. I am not sure, but I was under the impression that it was only because a new clan leader was not able to be elected, YTZ decided to leave and set up his own. In the end, he stayed true to his vows-as a Protector of the Sect, he did return to Brightness Peak to fend off the attackers.