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The League of Free Cities (自市同盟, zì shì tóngméng, Franvils lig), also known as the Huranian Hansa, was an association of Principean colonies and trade posts in Northern Huran to defend their interests in the Hou River and trans-oceanic trading. It began as an alliance of Blaco colonists against the Former Tan state and especially against its monarch: Tan Mingdi who had overturned most of his father' pro-Blaykish policies and began a purge of foreign elements in his country. After the civil war, the League maintained itself and became a founding member of the Grand Covenant alongside the Kingdom of Bian and the Later Tan Dynasty. Despite being officially recognized in treaties as an equal partner, it was never a state nor was it sovereign. The colonists were still Blaykish subjects and under its colonial administration, led by the Resident minister in Condor-Royal. The cities and ports in which they were established were still administered by Tan or Bian Mandarins and part of their respective states. Their establishments existed as free-ports or factories only by Tan or Bian decrees and special status were freely-revocable privileges. But in practice, real power in a colony was held by its Odoquole, an informal council of the factory' wealthiest and most influential colonists. While not recognized by either the Tan, the Bian, nor Blayk, local Mandarins and administrators consulted them before every major decision and followed the policies set by the Odoquole as, because of their influence, its members had the power to make or break careers in their cities.

Since its beginning as a military alliance and despite its informal nature, the League was led by a central authority formed by representatives from every colony: the Megodoquole. While it had no power over the colonies' internal affairs, it kept international relations and military affairs as its prerogative. It was also the final arbiter in case of conflicts between colonies and would develop its own Tribunal de commerce. To finance its growth in Neidi, the League also created its own banque, the Caisse de l'Ouranie, as a private venture with many features of a central bank including issuance privilege. It would also form its own military corps including the famous Tirailleurs Ouraniens and Voltigeurs Tartares as well as a permanent navy. The growth of the League would be such that by the second half of the 19th century, it would be able to dictate terms and matter of internal affairs to both Tan and Bian, and would often ignore colonial decisions from Blyak.

The League was not the only form of Blaykish colonisation in Huran. Even though closely co-dependent, Perendist missions remain independent. As the Tan Civil War which gave birth to the League was concurrent to the Blaykish Civil War (1800-1822) and the Colonial Wars of Independence (the Amand War of Indpependence (1801-1807), Marceaunian Wars of Independence (1802-1806)...) both the League and the Missions formed and expanded outside of colonial authority.

The League main trading partners were the other ex-colonies of Blayk. Mainly Amandine and Sainte-Mélitine. They traded in Silk, Taffeta, Satin, Velvet, Felt, Porcelain, Lacquer, but also indentured workers in the form of Coolies. Non-Perendist Hua workers were more often sent across the ocean than those who had converted, who were preferred to work on Manors in Huran. The "human capital" of Huran compared to that of the other Blaykish colonies proved a valuable commodity during the League's day and although slavery was made illegal in the Grand Covenant, Indentured servitude was common.

Administration

The Promotion System

Colonies adopted a system known as the Course-aux-honneurs (跑爵; pǎo jué. Officially: 晉升體系; jìn shēng tǐ xì; Promotion System) in parallel to the administrative rankings of the Tan and Bian states. The positions adopted and recognized by the League were:

1) The Financial Affairs Officer (财务官; cái wù guān; Dane-au-trésor)

2) The Urban Officer (市政官; shì zhèng guān; Dane-urbain)

3) The Proeminent Officer (裁官; cái guān; Prodane)

4) The Officer-in-activity (执政官; zhí zhèng guān; Vergodane)

5) The Supervising Officer (監官; jiān guān; Censeur)

To become a public officer, or "Dane", a decade of service in either the League's Merchant or War navies and a minimal age of 30 was mandatory. The colony's Odoquole would then pick from the pool of potential recruits the candidates for this year' positions who were then presented to the colony' citizens (gathered in a Comitelle) for approval. The Course-aux-honneurs was often compared to a Ladder: everyone had to start as a Financial Affairs Officer and then climb up the ranks. The exact duration of a mandate varied from colony to colony, but generally lasted a year. Only in the smallest of colonies was there only one officer of a rank. In their majority, colonies had at least two of each ranks, sometime more.

Financial Affairs Officers, or Danes-aux-trésor, as their name implied, were tasked by their Odoquole to handle the public treasury. They also controlled the colony' archives, kept the ledger, and organized the Ferme générale (共莊; gòng zhuāng; Common Farm): the outsourcing of taxation to private collectors. The Urban Officers' were responsible for the maintenance of public buildings, including infrastructure like roads, and the organization of festivals and holy days. Prodanes could serve as judges (法官; fǎ guān; Bretodane) or police commanders (指挥官; zhǐ huī guān; Vellaune). Finally the Vergodanes, who could serve in pair, were the colonies Mayors and supreme magistrates. A fifth rank, accessible only to ex-Vergodanes, was the Supervising Officer who was tasked with organizing the colony' population census, with the power to grant or revoke citizenship. He also wrote the list of people invited to seat at the Odoquole.

Ladder of Successes

In the Tan Dynasty, Colonies were still under the nominal control of a local magistrate (知縣; zhī xiàn) as Townships (鄉; xiāng) within a County (縣; xiàn). The local magistrate is responsible for collecting taxes, hearing trials, public order, education, examinations, morality, and religious customs. Replaced every three years, necessarily foreigners to the county they administered, overseeing population of tens of thousands with a team of about two hundred people at best, the Local Magistrate was dependent on local elites and networks to establish his authority. In Counties with Blaykish colonies, this often meant having to consult the Odoquole on all matters of taxation, land development, and justice. Mandarins who often under the patronage of the Odoquole, when the local magistrates appointed in League' dominated counties weren't themselves clients of one of the League's official who used their influence to grant them their position.

So, public officials could hold ranks in both the Colony' and the County's administrations. However, holding a Royal degree was a prerequisite to public service. There were three degree levels in the Tan Dynasty, forming the so-called "Ladder of Successes":

1) Tongsheng (童生, child student): County-level degree. Allow for service in the county administration.

2) Juren (舉人, recommended man): Prefecture-level degree. Allow for service as a Local Magistrate.

3) Jinshi (進士, advanced scholar): Royal-level degree. Allow for service in the government.

Agreements existed between the Tan and the League for private schools in the latter to grant degrees equivalent to the Tongsheng. When the League decided to open its own schools, the Ecole Speciale Militaire de Saint-Melin and Ecole Spéciale de Commerce de Saint-Antoine, their degrees were recognized as Juren-equivalent. This allowed the League to control more directly the Tan administration and expand its influence.

Blaykish influence over Tan administration also appeared in schools programs. Because of the defeat at the hand of the Great Covenant, the Tan Dynasty was forced to reform its examinations. In many counties, Ruist knowledge was no longer enough to pass the examination. Knowledge in mathematics, 'Auressian sciences', and other domains were demanded. Missions and Colonies, who had a privileged access to these new knowledges, were in prime position to use their authority to create a new generation of Mandarins who owed their positions to the colonists. Those 'Technical Experts', seen with scorn by the traditional scholarly-gentry, would nonetheless find positions even in the royal palace.

The Odoquoles

At the core of a colony sat an Odoquole. They began as informal gathering of Blaykish migrants in Huran: social circles meeting irregularly in participants' houses or at restaurants or tea houses. After the Tan Civil War, the Odoquoles remained purely informal affairs but their members, called the Odoques or the Sénons, represented the best established and most influential people in the Blaykish communities and took upon themselves the matter of administration and public life in the absence of colonial and royal authorities. A magistrate, either the Zhixian or any of the Danes, could summon them so as to get their opinion and advice on a question. The Odoques would express themselves in turn, the order being determined informally based on prominence and respect, and could speak of anything they wanted, in the manner they preferred, for as long as they wished. But by the end of their intervention, they needed to have expressed their opinion on the question brought to them, even if it was simply by agreeing to an opinion or a view already presented. If they agreed with a later intervention, they could interject to say so, although "interjection" couldn't be longer than a word. Presiding over an Odoquole was the Magistrate that summoned it.

The final opinion of the Odoquole was called a "consultation" and was a non-binding document expressing the opinion and desire of the council. However, due to the nature of the members as the de-facto most influent and powerful people in the colony, they often held more power than official decrees or laws. In the most powerful colonies such as Vives-Eaux, even the Zhixian would demand and follow the advises of the Odoquole.

The Megodoquole and Promagistrates

The Megodoquole, at the time also called Marocénacle, was the constituting assembly of the League. Contrary to the Odoquoles, it was a formal and internationally recognized institution recognized by all the other members of the Great Covenant. It was the institution that represented the Colonies in matter of diplomacy and war and could sign treaties in the name of all its members. Each Colony' Supervising Officer was tasked with selecting two representatives to send to the Marocénacle. At first, the assembly was not a permanent affair, only being summoned in case of embassy or at the demand of one of the colonies. But due to the League rapid growth, it became a permanent fixture held in Vives-Eaux.

While incapable of intervening in the colonies' internal affair, the Megodoquole served as a court of final appeal in matters of inter-colonies disputes and commercial litigation involving a colonist. It had the control of the League' war navy, a treasury of its own, collected taxes from the colonies, handled matter of the League' participation in the Great Covenant, and established its own schools for officers and magistrate as well as its own economic institutions such as the Caisse de l'Ouranie.