Jo Rohou (助 露峰) is the current ruler of Ryuu. He ascended the throne twenty years after the death of the previous monarch of Ryuu and has ruled for 120 years. Under his rule, the laws of Ryuu became incredibly strict and Rohou had not made a very open kingdom. More recently, there have been signs, such as youma appearing on the shores, that the kingdom is declining and is heading for a collapse if nothing is done soon.
Fuukan and Rikou comment from their observations of the kingdom that Rohou was a middling choice for king, neither exemplary or poor, but completely ordinary. Little is known about his past, except that he did not ascend Mount Hou to be chosen by Ryuuki, did not come from a farming or merchant family, and was not a high ranking official. Though he had been popular in his tenure as either a provincial or prefectural governor, he was not particularly outstanding and his ascension was completely unremarkable.
While Rohou has created an extremely sound system of law that punishes officials for their corruption, he appears to be undermining his own system instead of reforming it as corruption encroaches into the judicial system. Fuukan suggests that the inconsistent changes in Rohou's system may be the result of Rohou withdrawing from actively ruling the kingdom and causing the kingdom's decline. Rohou's law system and unusual reversals have resulted in an unusually long reign that both Fuukan and Rikou anticipated would have caused the kingdom's collapse much sooner given their impression of Rohou.
His son, Enga (淵雅), the current prince of Ryuu, is the kingdom's Daishikou, the chief minister of law[1]. By Rakusho no Goku, the kingdom's judicial officials mention that the Daishikou has been regularly struggling to force Rohou to actively reform the government with little success.
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- ↑ Rakusho no Goku short story