Tangkuo

Tanggu Federation Daitangg'o Gurun
Flag
Motto: Our Federation is emblazoned by light
Anthem: Jin'ou Yonggu Bei (Firm and Stable Be The Cup of Solid Gold)
Capital	Tukdan
Largest city	Daijuhu
Official languages	Tangkuo, Qidan
Recognised regional languages	Yen, Sukhbataaryn, Tuulu
Demonym(s)	Tangkuo
Government	Federal dominant-party semi-presidential constitutional republic
• President	Sen Jogosang
• Prime Minister	Ha Bofan
• Chairman of the Senate	Darcongga Ningji
• Upper house	Hundred-Strong Council
Establishment
• Gekun Qayanate	343 B.C
• Niohuru Dynasty	596 C.E
• Murong Dynasty	985 C.E
• Aišïn (Jin) Dynasty	1631 C.E
• End of the Jin Dynasty	1913 C.E
• Establishment of the People's Republic of Tangkuo	1947 C.E
• The Tanggu Federation	1989 C.E
Population
• Estimate	365,000,000
• 2017 census	364,953,506
Currency	Jiha (TJ)
Date format	dd ˘ mm ˘ yyyy
Driving side	left
Internet TLD	.tng

Tangkuo, officially the Tanggu Federation, is a sovereign state in Yidao, Aeia. Its capital city is Tukdan, with its largest city and former capital of the Tanggu People's Republic being Daijuhu. Tangkuo borders Soled to the east and ...

Tangkuo was the homeland of several ethnic groups, including the Wailans, Qidan, Tuulu and Hezhen. At various times, most of the major empires of Yidao and some other minor kingdoms established control in parts of Tangkuo and in some cases tributary relations with peoples in the area. The proto-Wailan people were mostly nomads, but some formed small towns, especially along wealthy trading routes, and grew to be powerful as a result, such as the case of the Niohuru Dynasty. With the Wu dynasty to the south, the Qidan people of Eastern Tangkuo created the Murong Dynasty in the region, which went on to control adjacent parts of Northern Yidao as well as stretching as far as Volghar as well. The Murong dynasty was the first state to control all of Tangkuo, but they collapsed when the Volghari invasions crippled most of Yidao. In the time between the end of the Murong and Tangkuo's unification, the area of Tangkuo was a battleground for many different ethnic groups, with many of the Yen dynasties trying to exert control over the different Wailan and in some cases, Qidan tribes.

Starting in the late 1500s, a Haiilanboo Wailan chieftain, Šurgaci (1577–1643), started to unify Wailan tribes of the region. Over the next several decades, the Wailans took control of most of Tangkuo, and expanded south into the Sui Dynasty, which then collapsed. In 1631, Šurgaci founded the Jin Dynasty, and his descendants continued to rule large parts of Yidao until the Andong Revolution in 1913, which massively crippled the Jin dynasty, reducing them to a rump state. This Baodin Clique lasted for only a short while before the Aišïn Jahudai clan were finally overthrown in 1938. Tangkuo went through another republican period before this too was overthrown in 1947 after the Tanggu Civil War.

Following the events of October 1st in 1989, the Tanggu People's Republic underwent a velvet revolution, reconstituting itself as the Tanggu Federation, governed as a federal semi-presidential republic. Elections followed soon after, and after a recession that lasted for much of the 90s, the Tanggu Federation's economy boomed as large mineral and resource deposits were utilized in Tangkuo's northeast. Tangkuo's extensive mineral and energy resources are the third largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the leading producers of oil and natural gas globally.

Etymology

The term "Tangkuo" has disputed origins. Some say it is a borrowing from Yen, with "Tangkuo" meaning "Country of the Tang". The most common theory, and the most likely one, is that Šurgaci, upon the founding of the Jin dynasty, decided to call the former Wailan tribes "Hundred Peoples" or "Hundred Countries", therefore creating the term "tanggū-gurun", which over time corrupted to "tangg'o".

The proper term to call a person from "Tangkuo" is "Tanggu" or sometimes "Tangkun", though the latter is more archaic and is more historically used.

History

Prehistory

Around the time of the Bronze Age, the ancestors of the Wailans moved south from modern-day Vynozhia, most likely through Sukhbataar or over Mederi-Alin. At the time of their notice by Yen historians, the Wailans inhabited the forests and river valleys of the land which is now northern and central Tangkuo. These Wailans that settled down along the way to modern-day Tangkuo are believed to have been assimilated into their overlord's populations. In earlier records, this area was known as the home of the Sushen in around 1100 B.C, the Yilou in around 950 B.C, the Wuji in around 600 B.C, and the Mohe or Malgal in 450 C.E Tangkuo. Under the Jin and in modern Tangkuo scholarship, sources promote that the idea that the Wailans were descendants or even the same people as these earlier tribes but this remains unclear. Some speculate the Wailans were the last in a migration from modern-day Ternca to Tangkuo and had assimilated the rest.

The Tungusic Wailans, upon migrating to Tangkuo, became subjects of the multi-ethnic Kingdom of Gæjæ (511-340 B.C). The early Wailans enjoyed eating pork, practiced pig farming extensively, and were mainly sedentary. They used both pig and dog skins for coats. They were predominantly farmers and grew soybeans, wheat, millet, and rice in addition to hunting. It is believed that the later conquest of these early Wailans by the Sahun and the Murong inspired many of them to adopt nomadic traditions and abandon their villages in favour of nomadic camps. Little is known about these early Wailans apart from several carved megaliths and obelisks in areas of northern Tangkuo and on the island of Mederi-Alin. These "Animal Stones" were likely sites of ritual worship in the time of the proto-Wailans. Not much is known about proto-Wailan culture or religion, but it can be assumed that it is related to modern Tanggu culture.

Early History

Sahun Qayanate

Since prehistoric times, Tangkuo has been inhabited by nomads who, from time to time, formed great confederations that rose to power and prominence. The first of these empires was the Sahun Qayanate, which inhabited the western parts of Tangkuo. The establishment of the Sahun in the 3rd century BC marks the beginning of documented history in Tangkuo. The identity of the ethnic core of the Sahun had been for a long time a subject of varied hypotheses, but archaeological expeditions in the 1960s and 1970s proved that the ruling class of the Sahun were Turuk. There was also evidence that proto-Wailans, and proto-Volghars, although they may have not been the rulers of the Qayanate, served as soldiers and governors for the Sahun.

The first appearance of the Sahun came in around the mid 3rd century BC, when the Shan Dynasty of northern Yidao repelled an invasion.In 200 BC, the Shan dynasty of Yidao launched a military campaign into the territory, attempting to subjugate the Sahun. However the Sahun forces ambushed the Shan Emperor Gao and dictated terms to him at sword-point. Emperor Gao was forced to submit to the Sahun , and a treaty was signed in 198 BC, giving the Sahun large amounts of territory. The treaty itself didn't ensure peace, as Sahun raids into the fertile Yen valleys continued. The raiding continued for 70 years until the reign of Emperor Wu, whose massive counteroffensives devastated the Sahun and sent them towards the road of decline. Between 130 and 121 BC, Yen armies drove the Sahun back weakening their hold on what is now southern Tangkuo, and finally pushing them into central Tangkuo. Following these victories, the Shan expanded into the areas later known as Tangkuo, Volghar, and Catai, erecting forts to establish control. This sudden loss of territory greatly weakened the Sahun, and the Shan soon made them into a tributary state. In 48 AD, the Sahun empire was weakened as it was divided into the Southern and Northern Sahun upon the death of Yiminishuqilibi Qayan. The northern Sahun migrated to the west to play a part in Asuran history. The Wailans that were vassalized by the Sahun rebelled in 93 AD, bringing an end to the Sahun Qayanate. The Sahun Qayanate (343 BC–93 CE) was followed several centuries later by the Niohuru Dynasty (596–1006 CE), which also ruled most of what is now Tangkuo.

Niohuru Dynasty

The Niohuru dynasty was the first power that controlled most of Tangkuo and had been Wailan, the previous controllers being proto-Volghar, Tuulu or Yen. The Niohuru dynasty was made up of Wailan tribes, which had been mostly united under the warlord of the Haixi clan, Niohuru Tušïnge. Unlike most of the empires that controlled Tangkuo, the Niohuru Dynasty didn't use an adopted name, such as the case of the Jin dynasty and the Murong dynasty. Instead they used the dynastic name of the ruler. Some scholars have wondered whether this focus on the dynasty, in contrary to much of Yidao, came from early proto-Wailan clans, that worshiped their ancestors and so formed links through surnames or clan descent. The Niohuru dynasty had been instrumental to the growth of the Wailan people, and had started the path that led to them to dominate Tangkuo and northern Yidao. Some historians had speculated that if not for the success of the Niohuru dynasty, the Wailans could easily have been overtaken by another steppe culture, such as the Volghar or the Murong, and cast out or assimilated into another culture.

Niohuru Tušïnge, of the Haixi Wailans, had united around half of the Wailan tribes under his rule in 596, thus establishing the Niohuru dynasty. When he died, his son Heši embarked on several more wars of subjugation, until approximately four of the six Wailan tribes had been united under his rule, before turning southwards to Yidao. He planned to raid the Yi Dynasty, like the Yujiulü before them, but his initial success had been replaced with horrible losses after the Yi general Fu Jian cut off his supply train and ambushed him. Heši was beheaded before Emperor Renzi of the Yi, and his brother Aišï was appointed as Khagan-Regent as Heši's eldest son, Satšï was only three. Aišï took great interest in his nephew, and tutored him as he grew up. Khagan Aišï had a keen intellect in finance. His name itself meant "gold" or "wealthy". Rather than raiding the powerful Yi Dynasty for wealth, he sought to gain wealth through the trade routes stretching through Wailan territory. Aišï established trade posts and improved communications so more traders would take the Wailan route out of Yidao rather than more risky routes. Aišï is considered today as one of the best, wisest and most shrewd rulers that the Wailans, and the Tangkuo, have ever known. When his nephew Satšï grew up, he remained true to his late brother's word, and abdicated. It was in this time that Aišï, according to legend, fathered a bastard child to a princess of the Jahudai clan, thus creating the Aišïn Jahudai clan that ruled the Jin dynasty and continues to rule Tangkuo to this day. During Satšï's reign did the Wailans first start to become sedentary. The seeds of urban Wailan society had been sown by his uncle Aišï, as when the trade posts grew in wealth and importance, the nomads around it would settle down and become stationary. Satšï moved his capital to Aišïngašan, a large trading post named after his uncle on the Sahaliyan River, on the site of modern-day Tukdan. There he built the precursor to what would later be the Dabkūri Dorgi Hoton, the royal residence of the Jin dynasty. After Satšï's reign, the Wailans started to change. Three of the six clans became sedentary by the end of the 7th century. In spite of the fact that the Wailans practiced archery on horse back and equestrianism, like nomads, their primary mode of production was farming while they lived in villages, forts, and towns surrounded by walls.

Over the next few centuries, the Niohuru dynasty had several rebellions over the distribution of power in the Wailan state. Some of the nobles, both nomadic and sedentary, were opposed to the centralization of power by the past few rulers that had been aimed to create a state much like the Yen Empires. Many of these rebellions ended in victory for the Niohuru dynasty, but it still showed long running dissent for the ruling family. The Niohuru slowly expanded west, taking tributaries and vassals, and even raided the Yen Yi Dynasty when they were suffering civil wars. Despite the powerful exterior, things were not well for the Wailans. Climate changes had interrupted and stopped harvests, making the already nervous nobles restless. To make matters worse, one of their vassals, the Qidan, had slowly gained power under the Wailan's nose and had now entered open revolt in 985, proclaiming the Murong dynasty. In a desperate gamble, Niohuru Šensi'abu promised decentralization if they helped fight against the Murong. The Qidan defeated the Wailans in several battles. In 986, they besieged and burnt down Aišïngašan, and the Niohuru dynasty fled to the north-eastern coastal cities. The nobles and clans, infuriated at their loss on the battlefield, declared independence from the Niohuru dynasty. Niohuru Šensi'abu was forced to comply, and the Niohuru became nothing more than a rump state. In 1006, the Murong dynasty invaded and finally put the Niohuru out of their misery, with the last Niohuru Khagan, Niohuru Baohuoli, sent into exile. Some say that he went on a ship, and sailed across the ocean to Vestrim, whilst others say that he went to Yen lands and intermarried with the royal dynasties there. One thing, however, is for certain; The Niohuru were no more.

Middle Ages

Murong Dynasty

The Qayan of the Murong Goes Forth With His Hunting Party, scroll, light colors on silk, dated from around 1050 C.E and is believed to depict Murong Hendeji or his brother Xiandeji; National Tangkuo Museum, Tukdan

Originally from Toba origins they were part of the Huniu tribe until 388 C.E when the Huniu-Murong clan was defeated by the Northern Song. This allowed the Qidan to organize and consolidate their own tribe and entity which led to the beginning of Qidan written history. From the 5th to the 8th centuries the Qidan were dominated by the steppe powers to their West, the Volghar and then the Wailans. The Yen also came from the south and regularly subjugated them, setting them up as tributaries, which led to Yenicization among the Qidan. Under this triple domination, the Qidan started to show growing power and independence. Their rise was slow compared to others because they were frequently crushed by neighbouring powers, each of which were using the Qidan to fight their wars for them. With the migration of the Sukhbataaryn loosening their control over the Qidan, and the civil unrest in the Niohuru dynasty, the Qidan established the Murong dynasty in 985. The Murong dynasty proved to be a significant power north of the Yen plain as they gained control over former Yen, Sukhbataaryn, and even some Wailan territories. They eventually fell to the ... Empire who subjugated and mostly absorbed the Qidan into their empire.

Early Modern Period

Unification of the Wailans

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the powerful Sui dynasty had backed two rival clans to the popular Aišïn Jahudai clan, the Hubošu and the Gæjeæ, in order to expand into the Wailan region and to keep the Wailans pacified. After many wars won by the Hubošu, vastly increasing their size at the expense of the other Wailan tribes, the leader of the Aišïn Jahudai clan, Šurgaci, united the Jurchen clans into a unified entity, which he renamed as the Tangkuo. This unification of the former Wailan tribes came about to prevent any further expansion by the Sui's allies in the region, and was originally supposed to be temporary. At the same time, the Sui dynasty was fighting for its survival against fiscal turmoil and peasant rebellions, and when Šurgaci listed his Six Grievances against the Sui, asking for compensations and the return of land considered Wailan, the Sui refused. For the Sui, it was a matter of national pride, and they expected the Hubošu and the Gæjeæ to be able to easily fight off this Tangkuo coalition with a few thousand Sui reinforcements. Šurgaci led the coalition and at the Battle of Juyge, avenged his father and elder brother by severing the head of the Hubošu, both literally and figuratively, and announced his intention to punish the Sui. He stated his desire to conquer and humiliate them in revenge for backing his two rivals, and for sending troops to the Hubošu.

The Sui general Yuwen Huaji, who had revolted against the Sui some years earlier allied to the Tangkuo to bring about the destruction of the Sui. After the subjugation of the Gæjeæ, who Šurgaci spared due to their disloyal attitude towards the Sui, the Tangkuo formed five Banner Armies, made up of Wailans, Qidans, Volghars and even some Yen that defected. With the Sui distracted by invasions and peasant rebellions, the Second and Fifth armies quickly rampaged across northern Sui. Meanwhile, the First, Third and Fourth Banner Armies, commanded by Šurgaci's brothers Murhaci, Nurhaci and Ihalaci, spread inland. There they defeated the Sui army in the Battle of Shizuishan, crushing most of the resistance in the north. Along the coast, many of the Sui cities opened their gates and bent the knee to Šurgaci and his armies in fear of destruction. This aided the Tangkuo immensely. Soon, the Banner Armies met and besieged the Sui capital, Shendu, taking it in a violent assault. During the attack, the last Sui emperor Yang Youlang had his stomach slit open by a Tangkuo soldier when trying to escape, resulting in his capture and his agonizing death hours later.

Moments after Shendu had been taken, and the Sui effectively crushed, Šurgaci proclaimed the beginning of the Jin dynasty, with the Aišïn Jahudai clan in charge. The Jin name itself meant "gold", a literal translation from the word Aišïn, which also meant "gold" in Tangkuo. The Jin dynasty annexed most of the former Sui, installing Yuwen Huaji as a puppet Emperor of the new Shun dynasty in the south. Unrest followed and the Shun capital was stormed by angry peasants fourteen years after its founding. This gave the excuse for the Jin to conquer the rest of the Sui dynasty, and the peasant armies were quickly defeated by the highly trained and experienced Tangkuo Banner Armies. The Jin then consolidated their rule through bribery, persuasion and with their military might. Šurgaci's strengths were his ability to act as a sort of charismatic salesman for his newly-conquered empire, winning over the Yen with the economic prosperity that resulted after the conquest, though his efforts mostly focused on his homeland of Tangkuo. In the coming decades, Tangkuo became rich with years of peace and trade under Šurgaci's reign.

Jin Dynasty

For the next few centuries, life returned to normal, roads were built, transportation was improved, the economy recovered and boomed, and entire families lived their lives without the threat of war. After several expeditions to conquer nearby tribes and tributaries, the Jin dynasty began to close off from the rest of the world as they saw no reason for further expansion. The Emperors of the Jin began to marry Yen princesses, but Tangkuo was made the sole language of royalty in an effort to preserve tradition and prevent assimilation into the larger Yen population. An entire class of bilingual administrators sprouted across the country, and the Palace of the Jin was built to accommodate the royal family.

However, despite the peace and prosperity that followed in the centuries after the Jin conquest, the Jin policy of "inward perfection" and isolationism from the rest of the world, as well as stagnation and corruption led to their decline in the beginning of the 19th century, and eventual downfall in 1913.

Nineteenth Century

The Opium Wars and the Weifang Rebellion

A soldier of the late Jin Dynasty, photographed near the end of the 19th century

Whilst the economic stagnation and the problems of corruption had started in the previous century, and would easily have been fixed by a good Emperor, one key factor that was beyond any ability to fix by any sort of Emperor led to it's inevitable demise; the arrival of more technologically advanced and more powerful Asuran nations. Whilst not a direct cause, the arrival of Asuran merchants and diplomats, and their military expeditions into the Jin dynasty weakened it immensely, and gave way for it's collapse in 1913, and its official end in 1938.

The Jin dynasty had dealt with merchants and travelers from Asura before, and had granted them an "open port" on the swampy island of Tonghei in 1743, which restricted maritime trade to that city and gave monopoly trading rights to private Yen and Tanggu merchants. Demand in Asura for Yidaoan goods such as silk, tea, and ceramics could only be met if Asuran companies funneled their limited supplies of silver into the Jin dynasty. Since the Jin dynasty's economy was essentially self-sufficient, the country had little need to import goods or raw materials from the Europeans, so the usual way of payment was through silver. In the late 1700s, the governments of Midrasia and Newrey were deeply concerned about the imbalance of trade and the drain of silver, and so began to auction opium grown in Majula to independent foreign traders in exchange for silver, and in doing so strengthened its trading influence in Yidao. This opium was transported to the Yidaoan coast, where local middlemen made massive profits selling the drug inside the Jin dynasty. The influx of narcotics reversed the Jin trade surplus, drained the economy of silver, and increased the numbers of opium addicts inside the country, outcomes that worried Jin officials. Emperor Dalunha, concerned both over the outflow of silver and the damage that opium smoking was causing to his subjects, ordered Zhao Kuangyin, a Yen scholar-official in service to the Jin dynasty, to end the opium trade. Zhao confiscated the stocks of opium without compensation in 1839, leading Midrasia to send a military expedition next year.

The First Opium War revealed the outdated state of the Jin military. The Jin navy, composed entirely of wooden sailing junks, was severely outclassed by the modern tactics and firepower of the Midrasian Republican Navy. Midrasian soldiers, using advanced muskets and artillery, easily outmaneuvered and outgunned Jin forces in ground battles, and the capture of many of the Jin's richest coastal ports by the Midrasians led the Emperor Dalunha to sue for peace. The Jin surrender in 1842 marked a decisive, humiliating blow to the already struggling empire. The Jin had to pay massive amounts of money to the Midrasians, and open up a great number of their ports to western trade and missionaries. The outdated Jin military, the corruption in the Jin bureaucracy and the harsh peace treaty imposed upon the Jin at the end of the First Opium War would help stir up anti-Tangkuo sentiment in Yen-inhabited territories annexed by the Jin.

Over the next few decades, tensions and dissatisfaction with the seemingly ineffective monarchy would increase, paving the way for the Jin dynasty's eventual downfall. Amid widespread social unrest and worsening famine, a rebellion against the Jin broke out in the year 1852. The Weifang Rebellion started when radical general Qi Liangyu seized most of the southern Jin Empire, proclaiming himself Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. Qi Liangyu said that God told him to banish the Tangkuo from Yidao and to shatter the Jin dynasty, before bringing an age of universal peace. The Weifang Rebellion not only posed the most serious threat towards Jin rulers in the entirety of their reign, it has also been called one of the bloodiest and most violent civil wars of all time. The revolt began in Guangxi, in early January 1852, after a small-scale battle resulted in a victory in late December 1851, a 10,000-strong rebel army organized by Qi Liangyu routed Jin forces stationed in Jintian. Weifang forces successfully repulsed an attempted imperial reprisal against the Jintian Uprising. The movement quickly spread as anti-Jin groups joined the rebellion, believing that the main goal of the Weifang Rebellion was simply to end Jin rule. In 1853 Weifang forces captured Dongjing, making it their capital and renaming it Tianjing ("Heavenly Capital"). Tens of thousands of Tangkuo men, women, and children that were captured by Weifang forces were lynched, tortured, banished, and executed in a clear attempt to purge Yidao of the Tangkuo "demons". Weifang leaders tried to widen their popular support and forge alliances with Asuran powers, but due to incidents attacks on Asuran ambassadors and soldiers by xenophobic Weifang supporters, these attempts failed. The Asurans stated their intention to stay officially neutral, despite the service of Asuran military advisors in the Jin army, the supplying of modern weapons to Jin forces, and the temporary transfer of several gunboats to the Jin admiralty.

Initially a broad anti-Jin rebellion, as time went on the Weifang rebellion started to lose support among rural classes, as it quickly became apparent that Qi Liangyu's beliefs clashed with Yidaoan tradition, especially in regards to his application of his own syncretic Alydianist faith as the state religion. The landowning upper class, unsettled by the Weifang ideology and the policy of strict separation of the sexes, even for married couples, sided with government forces and their Western allies. An attempt to take Tonghei in August 1860 was repulsed by an army of Jin troops supported by Asuran officers under the command of Loís-Éduard Montpensier de Agramunt. This army would become known as the "Ever Victorious Army", a seasoned and well trained Jin military force that would be instrumental in the defeat of the Weifang rebels. Qi Liangyu declared that God would defend Dongjing, but in June 1864, with Jin forces approaching, he committed suicide. Hours after his death, Jin forces took the city. His body was buried in the former Song Imperial Palace, and was later exhumed on orders of Emperor Dalunha to verify his death, and then cremated. Qi's ashes were later blasted out of a cannon in order to ensure that his remains have no resting place as eternal punishment for the uprising.

Before the Weifang Rebellion, the Jin dynasty looked down on the Yen as children that needed to be educated and cared for under the Emperor, punishments being necessary in order to instill good values. After such a large and bloody rebellion however, the minority Tangkuo elite had to accept that they had to make concessions for the large Yen population who could no longer be contained, or they would likely be overthrown. The Jin Empire barely survived the rebellion, and the resulting moral, political and social crisis produced as the Jin elite finally realized that their empire sat on a ticking time bomb would flame instability in the Jin Empire for the next three decades. In response to the Weifang Rebellion, the Jin dynasty officially expanded the rights given to Yen by Šurgaci's Proclamations for Celestial Peace two hundred years earlier, in August 1868. These expansions included the right for Yen and Tanggu couples to form relationships and have offspring, for Yen to have equal opportunities at competing with Tanggu merchants, and the right for Yen to immigrate into ethnically Tanggu territory. However, this expansion of rights only served as a halfway measure, a temporary solution that served very little benefit. Tensions between Tanggu and Yen clans, as well as pressure for the Jin Empire to modernize by Tanggu-Yen politicians and activists seeking to adopt Asuran values, would eventually lead to the fall of the Jin Empire.

Early 20th Century

Fall of the Jin Empire

Gathered delegates of the Tangkuo Reform Party, later the Tanggu National Party, in Midrasia 1912, shortly before setting off to Tangkuo. Many of them would be later imprisoned and executed by the Jin authorities or exile themselves only to return with the second Republic.

The Warlord Era

The Independent Cities

The term, "Independent Cities" to refer to the treaty ports and cities that were once under joint control of several world powers is something of a misnomer. The Independent Cities were de facto independent in their own affairs, and existed as a sort of confederation between the wealthy port cities of eastern Tangkuo, but only existed in order to expand profits and influence of other world powers owning interests in Tangkuo and Yidao in general. Initially, the Independent Cities flourished, not only through trade with foreign powers but also thanks to smuggling people, drugs, and weapons into Tangkuo. By the 1930s, recent events had caused the Independent economy to collapse, therefore leading to high crime rates. Corruption had caused police forces to be minimal and lobbyists for crime groups to be all over the government. The Independent Cities was initially backed by foreign powers, but as profits started to dry up and economic instability wracked the world, they were left to their own fate. By the time of the Tanggu Civil War, they had been forced to concede much of their territory, including the cities of Boli and Yingkou for profit, before a coup d'etat by local officers ended the Independent Mandate, and the remaining cities were conceded to the Second Republic.

The Sei Clique

Main articles: History of Tangkuo, and Sei Clique (1927-1951)

The Sei Clique, or the Sai Clique in Yen, was one of many cliques and warlord states that erupted from the fall of the Jin Empire. Notable for being led by the Sei family, an Irsadic Qidan dynasty, the clique has been considered by many to be a model for Tangkuo's future, having promoted the modernization of Tangkuo, national, religious, and gender equality, as well as the funding of many educational, medical, agricultural, and sanitation projects. The Sei Clique was also notable for having the world's only female Imams. Under the Sei Clique, illiteracy in the ... region decreased dramatically from 1927 to 1951, from 89% to 13%. The Sei Clique, while not a republic, had local elections every couple of years while main executive power was held by the Sei family.

Originally the Tadagur region was controlled by Governor Liu Sahani, who had controlled the region prior to the Jin collapse in 1913. Liu was only assigned to govern the Tadagur region temporarily, but as soon as the Jin collapsed, he found himself isolated, forced into a governorship that he was unable to relinquish. So Liu bided his time, issuing his personal "Tukdan government" rule, issuing fealty to any clique or warlord that had gained control of Tukdan. Liu had developed a bad case of paranoia, combined with his old age. Thinking even his closest officials were conspiring against him, cabinets were constantly switched as one minister after another was put to death for suspicion of treachery. Liu’s right-hand man, Nahu Tugesu shared many of his traits of generally being power hungry and untrusting of those who escape his very exclusive clique. With Liu only growing more reclusive in his old age, many of the daily responsibilities of administration were left to Jin. However, Liu had not given Nahu enough autonomy to make radical changes on his own, keeping him on a tight leash along with his many other officials. By 1925, Liu, rarely ventured out of his room, only to sign documents and give his handwritten orders to his administrators. It was a complete surprise then, that when Nahu Tugesu sought permission from Liu to hunt down Sukhbataaryn raiders coming over the border, he found his room empty, with Liu seemingly having disappeared from the entire Tadagur region. A quick examination of the accounts showed that the entire treasury of taxes taken from the Qidan population was empty. Nahu acted quickly, and raised his personal army to seize control, executing Liu's other right-hand men. With his control quickly cemented, Nahu began his rule of Tadagur.

Nahu Tugesu was quite obviously Sahani’s protege according to some, but Liu’s paranoia being replaced with Nahu's ego and incompetence. Nahu immediately began to make moves against both the Qidan and his own officials in order to establish dominance over his domain. From the doubling of the Qidan and Nian tax, to finally dealing with the Sukhbataaryn problem he sought to take all necessary steps to ensure that Tadaguria was his and his alone. Nahu’s final goal, however, is unexpected to many, the unification of Tadaguria. Along the ... corridor between the heartland of Tangkuo and the Tadagur region lay the Jau Haanate, a tributary state that allied with Liu after the Jin collapse. On the 27th of May 1926, Nahu invited the Haan of the Jau Haanate, Bala Haan, to celebrate Nahu’s own inauguration as the governor of Tadaguria in Kherlen. Bala agreed, not wanting to insult this new governor. After Bala arrived and partook in the celebrations, he was escorted away, captured, and imprisoned. Nahu’s administrators immediately got to work regarding the recent integration, seeking to take advantage of this new and unique region. Nahu's first step was to truly make use of this exclusive road to civilize the Qidan, with recently annexed Jau becoming the first to be settled in Nahu's quest of making the great Tanggu race reach beyond its typical bounds.

The Jauliks already upset by these foreigners trespassing upon their rightful lands have little patience for this administration. If any thought that the reformist Bala was bad as a monarch, then their current situation was worse than they could have ever imagined. Already feeling the weight on their shoulders, the last straw on their back is quickly broken as a Tanggu tax collector by the name of Tuda Oon arranges a forced marriage to a Jaulik’s underage Irsadic daughter. Already enraged by foreign entry and now the foreign marriage of their honorable people, tensions finally explode. During one of Tuda Oon’s meetings with his soon to be wife’s father, a large group of Jauliks broke into the building, lynching and killing Tuda Oon, the father, and the daughter. For the people of Jau, enough was enough, and their great uprising began. Qidan religious orders began calling for a Jihad, or holy war, against Nahu Tugesu and his government. The Jaulik rebels stormed the fortified inner city, massacring the Tanggu garrison there and beheading many of the newly arrived Tanggu immigrants. At the same time, as news of the occupation spread to the south of Tadaguria, a miner's strike quickly gave way to a revolt.

A local Qidan landholder, minor aristocrat and soldier, Sei Burhasi, joined the revolt, and quickly became leader of the rebellion. The Qidan, with the aid of other warlords, defeated Nau's troops and stormed Kherlen. Nahu Tugesu had not mastered his former mentor's art of disappearing however, and faced with an army of Qidan zealots, he stabbed himself with his ceremonial sword. After Nahu's death, Sei Burhasi was elevated to his place. Sei made deals with the other cliques, telling them that the Tadagur region was now equal in standing to the rest of Tangkuo, and that there would be no more mass migrations into the region. Sei Burhasi paid tribute to the Baodin Clique and the restored Jin dynasty, making sure they accepted the Qidan as equals in exchange for loyalty, and support.

The Sei Clique from 1927 to 1951, before its invasion by the Tangkuo People's Republic, was led by three brothers, Sei Burhasi (Buraq Hajib), Sei Buheipu (Buraq Hamid) and Sei Bureli (Buraq Rashid). The Clique, despite being de facto independent, still pledged allegiance to the Jin Remnant, and sometimes sent representatives to the Jin Remnant in order to ease tensions. However, the Sei family made it clear that they would not give up executive power to the Jin unless a much greater reward was given to them, such as key government positions or vast estates, that the Jin Remnant, being a constitutional monarchy, was either unable or unwilling to do. Despite its progressiveness, the Sei Clique had major underlying problems, including terrorist attacks and raids by the radical Irsadist Yehewani religious order. Attacks by the Yehewani culminated in a long, protracted conflict lasting for the entirety of the Sei Clique's history in the mountains surrounding the ... valley. The Yehewani sought to overthrow the Sei Clique and to establish fundamentalist Irsadic ideals, such as forced conversion, the veiling and strict separation of women from men, and the destruction of non-Irsadic temples and idols. After the annexation of the Sei Clique into the People's Republic of Tangkuo, the Yehewani attacks ceased amid a brutal crackdown on the Irsadic religion. In recent years however since the fall of the People's Republic, there are signs that the Yehewani are mobilizing again.

The First Republic

When the Jin Empire fell in 1913, it did not collapse instantly. Rather bits of it, entire regions, broke off from the ailing monarchy, with the area around Tukdan going to the self-declared Republic of Tangkuo, led by charismatic reformers Oon Yangha, Jang Fuguzhi, and Sha Dingju.

However, this republic was unpopular due to its inability to solve many underlying problems that plagued the former Jin Empire, was unable to rein in bandits and warlords, and was unstable due to a great many coups, including one attempt where a president declared himself Emperor. The republic alienated everyone by choosing the middle ground, and became unpopular with Asuran powers for its anti-imperialist stance. The capture of Tukdan in 1928 by monarchist forces loyal to warlord Cai Hesun proved to be the death-knell of the fragile republic, and its territory was split in two, the League of Six Provinces in the South, led by Puchan Jogosang, and the Bodin Clique in the North, led by military genius, Cai Hesun.

Bodin Clique

In March, 1930, Emperor Aišïn Jahudai Jïlunggusu was restored to the throne in Tukdan as a condition of Asuran support for Cai Hesun and the Bodin Clique. The new government was technically a constitutional monarchy, with Jïlunggusu sharing power with a National Assembly in Tukdan. Nominally composed of representatives from all of China, only the area around Tukdan and the North Tangkuo Plain frequently sent representatives, with warlord cliques hostile or ambivalent to Tukdan's rule not participating for various reasons. Cai Hesun initially allowed various democratic parties to hold some seats in the assembly as a way of securing international and domestic legitimacy for his regime. This strategy backfired, however, as Tangkuo’s trade debt continued to spiral out of control.

With day-to-day governance largely handled by the Bodin clique, the Emperor spent the next few decades practicing calligraphy, and playing tennis matches. Theoretically, the Jin Emperor controlled all of the former lands of the Jin Dynasty, but in reality the Emperor's power barely extended beyond the walls of his palace, while Prime Minister Ma Ningji was largely powerless beyond the senate floor. The real power lay with military genius and philosopher-general Cai Hesun, who was more interested in consolidating his power base in Tukdan and balancing military cliques off from each other than actually improving the Jin Remnant in any meaningful way. It was Cai's gravitas that bound the Remnant together, and granted him far-reaching influence outside of the conventional political system.

What seemed to be a somewhat peaceful past few years for eastern Tangkuo suddenly ended when the League of Six Provinces collapsed in February 1936, following the assassination of Puchan Jogosang. With the League in chaos, Cai Hesun and the Bodin clique decided to sit out the collapse, to try and make a deal with the eventual victor. The initial reaction by the general population, however, was one of hostility and anger. By refusing to take a side in the intervention, Cai Hesun opened himself up to widespread criticism not only from the reform parties and urban intellectuals, but from some generals within the Bodin Clique as well. A few were genuine monarchists, but most are simply angry at Cai for failing to use the opportunity of the League collapse to expand their influence southward. These generals, plus the aforementioned reformist parties, began to plot in secret to overthrow Cai Hesun and reinstate Jïlunggusu. On the 9th of May, 1936, the plot was carried out, and Cai was gunned down in the middle of a radio broadcast.

However, the plotters underestimated the number of Cai's supporters. The resulting action was swift, but bloody. Many of the supporting generals were arrested and placed under house arrest, but some escaped and mustered their forces, including the elite Songgi Cadets. Street fighting broke out in downtown Tukdan, and the Imperial Palace came under mortar fire. The Bodin army advanced closer to the Songgi barracks, taking street by street in bloody fighting. When the dust cleared, the plotters had been defeated.

The Second Republic

The resulting crackdown was swift. Immediately, the Emperor was removed from the government, officially ending the monarchy, monarchist supporters in the government were purged, and officials gathered to create a new republican interim government to rule Tangkuo, the role of President being settled on former diplomat to Midrasia Antoine-Bartomieu Oon. The Republic of Tangkuo was restored.

Initially the news of the Second Republic was heralded with praise by republicans across Tangkuo. President Oon, a former diplomat, sought to bring stability to the republic by creating an United Front involving communists and nationalists against the warlords. For the next several years, the two disparaging wings of the republic had been united into the New Republican Reform Association of Tangkuo, and various centrist policies were implemented. At the same time, the secret police of the Second Republic had caused the untimely deaths of a number of more radical elements in both the left and right wings, usually politicians and generals very unhappy with their retrospective parties' idea to co-operate with Oon. Tensions in the street between the left and the right had died down while the republic focused its efforts on combating the warlords. By 1940, most of the main warlords to the south, including Sordo Hen and the "Bandit King" Guo Heye were pacified.

Despite these military successes, leadership remained divided between right-winger Caoha Mentemu and left-winger Sen Kunuma. With support from the Asuran Socialist Republic and Communist movements in other nearby countries, the left wing was gaining traction and popular support from the people. The January 1940 party conference had placed Communists in strategic posts and the party became almost wholly under leftist control. President Oon fought to maintain a compromise and had denounced the left wing's gains as a move that could destabilize the republic, but before any action could be taken, he was shot several times by a disgruntled government official in the middle of the senate on the 11th of January, 1942. Oon hung on for days afterwards, but despite the best efforts of medical personnel, he died on the 15th of January.

With President Antoine-Bartomieu Oon's death, so too died most bipartisan support for the continuation of the United Front. In the resulting chaos, the interim President, one of his protégés, the right-winger Caoha Mentemu, seized control of the New Republican Reform Association of Tangkuo. In 1943, Caoha turned on the left-wing of the New Republican Reform Association of Tangkuo, who split away creating the Communist Party of Tangkuo. Communist militia armed themselves and rose up across the country, leading to the Tanggu Civil War.

Tanggu People's Republic

By 1947, the Communist Party of Tangkuo had established control over most of the country. The Communists are believed to have won the Civil War because they made fewer military mistakes than Caoha, and because in his search for a powerful centralized government, Caoha antagonized too many groups in Tangkuo. Meanwhile, the Communists told various ignored or neglected groups, such as the rural peasants or farmers that had formerly been under warlord rule, exactly what they wanted to hear, and cloaked themselves in the cover of Tanggu Nationalism. After the northeast was captured in 1948, and with Tukdan cut off from Daijuhu, the Nationalist military position became hopeless. Mass surrenders by soldiers of the Nationalist army became common. Tukdan and Daijuhu were occupied without resistance, leading to Sen Kunuma declaring victory in the civil war on the 11th of February 1948 and the establishment of a People's Republic. Thousands of rightwing and nationalist Tanggu fled to refugee camps in southern Sukhbataar. Those associated with any form of nationalist and anti-leftist sentiment were purged of governmental positions and sent to labor camps deep in the desert, including the former emperor Jïlunggusu. With the establishment of a proletarian dictatorship led by Sen Kunuma in the aftermath of the war, all left-wing parties were fused into the structure of the Sen regime.

1988 Revolution

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Army trucks halted by student protesters shouting monarchist slogans during the 1988 Revolution

The army's entry into the city was blocked at its suburbs by throngs of protesters. Tens of thousands of demonstrators surrounded military vehicles, preventing them from either advancing or retreating. Protesters lectured soldiers and appealed to them to join their cause. The protesters also provided soldiers with food, water, and shelter. However, in some areas of Daijuhu, large crowds stormed government buildings and set up stockades. In many areas, soldiers attempted to dislodge the protesters, only to be met with mobs. General Eluguan Mudusæ, seeing the way the tide was turning, ordered his soldiers to join the protesters. Within a few hours, a division of soldiers marched into main government buildings, arresting many members of the Tangkuo Communist Party. Outside the buildings, large crowds cheered for the return of the monarchy, and for the success of the coup. An announcement was made on national radio and television, announcing an end to the communist rule. Soldiers were still stationed outside main buildings across Tangkuo for the next few days as the military invited the pretender to the Tangkuo throne, Aišïn Jahudai Jïlunggusu to return. Upon his return on the 4th of December, the monarchy was proclaimed to be restored and the Empire of Tangkuo was announced. Due to a naming dispute as Tangkuo no longer controlled the land of the Jin dynasty, Aišïn Jahudai Jïlunggusu wasn't able to take his former title of Emperor of the Jin dynasty, and so thus took the title Emperor of the Tangkuo. In order to promote continuity, the title Emperor of the Tangkuo and Emperor of the Jin dynasty were merged and declared one and the same. Three months after the restoration of the monarchy, Emperor Jïlunggusu died at the age of eighty nine from kidney cancer, which he had strugged with for years previously. Jïlunggusu's eldest son, Aišïn Jahudai Nujænge took the throne until he too died in 1993, with his brother Ningjiasu holding the throne until he died on February 19, 2018.

Demographics

The nature of Tangkuo's history meant that for a long time, Tangkuo and the tribes living in it, came under influence of certain Yen empires. This influence resulted in a great many customs and words being borrowed between the two ethnic groups, especially during the reign of the Jin dynasty. Therefore a case can be made that Tangkuo is partly a Yenicized nation. In recent years, regarding the rise of Tanggu nationalism, questions have been asked as to what constitutes something as being Tanggu and where to draw the line on what is shared and what is different. Some nationalist groups have drawn themselves away from Tangkuo's history with Yen empires and focusing more on the shamanistic, semi-nomadic tribes in Tangkuo's north, attempting to recreate Tangkuo based on what they see as its original roots. Others believe that it is through the interactions with the Yen that made Tangkuo what it is, and that as a rising power, it must create its own sphere of influence. This debate only serves to illustrate that Tangkuo is a multi-faceted country, and that when it comes to ethnic nationalism, clear theories and schools of thought have not been set in stone.

Ethnic groups

Due to the many cultures that have migrated to and from Tangkuo throughout the course of its history, it is not surprising to expect the country to have many different ethnic groups, all of which have their own distinct languages and make up a distinct part in the tapestry that is Tangkuo. The biggest minority in Tangkuo are the Yen, followed by the Qidan, the Volghari, the Tuulu and the Kuchi, together making up just over a third of the total population.

Yen

Yen, making up 12% of the population, are mostly descended from migrants that went north into Tangkuo during the Jin Dynasty, but are also made up of Tangkuo that were assimilated into Yen groups. The Yen in Tangkuo mostly live in the south along the border, with Yen being a regional language across much of southern Tangkuo. After the establishment of the Jin dynasty by Šurgaci, Yen slowly moved into Tangkuo over the centuries, but due to laws made to protect the Tangkuo, who were now a minority in the Jin dynasty, all Yen migrants had to take Tangkuo names and send their children to Tangkuo schools. If they refused, they were not allowed to go at all. This "secret Yen minority" as it has been called by various ultra-nationalist groups, makes up almost a third of the Tangkuo population, and has been the target of some hate speech. However, popular opinion states that over the centuries of interbreeding with the native population, it is pointless to try and find a secret minority, when by all intents and purposes, they are fully Tangkuo. The Tangkuo Settlement law was repealed in 1904, and Yen quickly entered Tangkuo in search of jobs.

Several attempts had been made in the past to assimilate the Yen minority, which had been regarded as "Un-Tangkuo" during the Communist period, when the loss of their homeland meant the Yen were stuck in Tangkuo. Yen made up around thirty percent of the population in 1910, if censuses are to be believed, but by the end of the Communist period, they made up only 14%. The assimilation attempts were halted when the monarchy was restored, as the Emperors wanted to appear benevolent compared to their communist counterparts. Today, the Yen minority are protected to a degree, with many of the areas they inhabit being bilingual. Schools are allowed to teach the Yen languages in those areas. But in some conservative areas, they are still seen as "illegals", and hate crimes still occur to a limited degree. There is pressure on the Hundred-Strong Council to help protect Yen, but it is unlikely as of yet of how such protection would take place.

Qidan

The Qidan, also called the Qedan or the Qudun, make up 10% of the population in Tangkuo, are the descendants of the people of the Murong dynasty. With the migration of the Volghari loosening their control over the Qidan, and the civil unrest in the Niohuru dynasty, they established the Murong dynasty in 985. The Murong dynasty proved to be a significant power north of the Yen plain as they gained control over former Yen, Volghari, Tuulu and even some Wailan territories. They eventually fell to the Volghari Empire who subjugated and mostly absorbed the Qidan into their empire. When the Volghari Empire collapsed, the Qidan were set free, but were still weak compared to their neighbours. The Qidan eked out a peaceful living, paying taxes to whichever empire or dynasty controlled the lands they passed through. When the Jin dynasty conquered the Sui, the Qidan fully became a part of the empire, and their unique skills at tracking and scouting made them good assets for the Jin military. For this, they were protected and given rights, with specialized language schools operating as far back as the early 18th century. Today, the Qidan live a mostly sedentary life, and have settled down in small towns, but there are a few still sticking to the old nomadic ways.

Tuulu

Recent attention has been drawn on the Tuulu as a result of the Tanggu government's plans to industrialize the north of Tangkuo, and to take advantage of the large mineral and natural gas reserves there, most of which lie on tribal lands. Environmentalist groups in Tangkuo are criticizing the government's measures, but this comes with little opposition from the majority of Tangkuo's population, who see the recent acquisition of lands from the Tuulu as being beneficial for the economy.

Education

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A teacher in Daijuhu teaches young children the Tangkuo language

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Another teacher wearing traditional clothing, in Tukdan, reading out instructions to his class