Zhen

Great Zhen Empire 大真帝国 (Ascalonian) Ikh Jen Güren (Caoyan) Zensk Kæserrike (Gojan)
Flag National Emblem
Motto: 百花齊放 "Let a hundred flowers bloom"
Anthem: 卿云歌 Qīng Yún Gē (Song to the Auspicious Cloud)
Capital and largest city	Sihuan
Official languages	Ascalonian Caoyan
Recognized national language	Gojan
Demonym(s)	Zhen
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Emperor	Vacant
• Regent	Princess Shi
• Premier	Yong Shen
Legislature	National Assembly
Formation
• Pre-imperial clans	1700-202 BCE
• Empire of Dazhou	202 BCE-1637
• Warring Clans	1637-1644
• Great Zhen Unification	March 16, 1644
• End of Syrixian Rule	November 15, 1937
• Zhen Revolution	2009-2010
• Evacuation to Zhenmen Islands	Aug. 21-Nov. 5, 2010
• Zhen Civil War	September 21, 2011
• Armistice	February 22, 2011
• Zhen Sovereignty Declaration	February 25, 2012
Area
• Total land area	127,642 km2 (49,283 sq mi)
• Controlled sovereign territory	23,176 km2
• Autonomous sovereign territory	103,618 km2
Population
• 2016 census	7,115,370
• Density	307/km2 (795.1/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2018 estimate
• Total	333.913 billion IBU
• Per capita	46,928 IBU
GDP (nominal)	2018 estimate
• Total	347.362 billion IBU
• Per capita	48,818 IBU
Gini (2020)	34.4 medium
HDI (2020)	0.991 very high
Currency	Kuai (₭)
Time zone	DST
Date format	YYYY年MM月DD日 (Messianic) 帝国YYYY年MM月DD日 (Zhen) YYYY/MM/DD (Modern)
Driving side	left
ISO 3166 code	ZH
Internet TLD	.zh

Zhen, officially the Great Zhen Empire, is a country in South Iteria. Alternatively, the state refers to itself as the State of Zhenmen or Zhenmen. Sometimes called East Zhen. It consists of the archipelago of the Zhenmen Islands, the mainland provinces of Chaoyang and Qingrendong, including major port city Sihuan, and it totals an area of approximately 23,176km².

Zhenmen has a population of 7.1 million, but Zhenmen recognizes the 31.4 million people in USSI Zhen as its citizens. According to the Zhen Sovereignty Declaration, the United States of South Iteria (USSI), which controls most of the mainland, is an illegitimate state and the State of Zhenmen has sovereignty over all Zhen territory. The capital and largest city is Sihuan in Chaoyang Province with a population of 1,234,838.

While the Sinnitic peoples spread out from South Iteria, there were tribes who opted to settle in the nearby areas. The nomadic Caoyan hordes controlled northern Zhen and the south was cultivated by the sedentary Ascalonians (Also known as Ascyan), who found prosperity in trade by the southern coast. This later became the center of the Empire of Dazhou, uniting Ascalonians and Caoyans.

In the 17th century, the Empire of Dazhou began to decline and its power weakened over the outlying territories. The Zhen states renounced allegiances to Dazhou in a scramble for power. Instead, Goyanes conquers Dazhou and it became a colonial possession, which would later become Ascalon. Disgruntled by non-Iterians ruling former Dazhou, the Ascyan Sima Jin clan sought the backing of Syrixia, a rival to Goyanean interests in Iteria. Sima Jin, uniting the fragmented Caoyan and Ascyan states of Zhen, formed the Great Zhen Empire as a Syrixian protectorate. Syrixian rule of Zhen was undisturbed until the 2nd Nordic-Imperial War.

The decline of the Syrixian Empire in the 19th century motivated Zhen to pursue its own interests. Zhen declared independence unilaterally after they refused to join the Fascist Wars. During that period, modernization and major political reforms were achieved, but democratization was halted due to radical socialist uprisings plaguing Zhen. Following the war, Zhen aimed to restore friendly relations with Syrixia and joined the Syrixian Commonwealth. In 2000, Zhen joined the Iterian League.

In 2009, a military coup led by Prince Meng usurped Emperor Taiping and murdered the Zhen Imperial Family. Princess Shi escaped with loyalists to the Zhenmen Islands. In 2012, after a series of negotiations, the USSI government and the Zhen government-in-exile jointly declared the Great Zhen Empire continues to exist, retaining sovereignty over mainland Zhen and demanded foreign countries to maintain policies of non-intervention. Relations were established with the USSI and a cease-fire was successfully negotiated.

At the turn of the 20th century, Zhen was, by definition, a developed country. However, due to the lack of progress in social and democratic reform, Zhen was an authoritarian one-party state that heavily-controlled all aspects of society. Economic sectors were divided between state and privately-owned monopolies. Freedom of press was non-existent as state media regularly fabricated news. Civil rights and political freedoms were drastically curtailed and human rights abuses were commonly reported.

It was not until the Zhen Revolution when significant changes finally took place, especially in the mainland where the USSI abolished most of these oppressive policies. Zhenmen was able to achieve the majority of democratic reforms that Zhen needed and expanded economic and individual freedoms. Full democratization is promised by Zhenmen once re-unification begins.

Zhenmen has an upper-middle income economy. It has a welfare state that serves universal health care, free education up to college, and free public transportation. Renewable energy, mostly biomass and wind parks, power the entire country. It depends on industries such as banking, fishing, petroleum, tourism and services.

Due to the lack of military capabilities equal to the USSI, citizens are required to do compulsory military service for two years.

Zhenmen, as the legitimate representative of Zhen, conducts its membership roles in the Syrixian Commonwealth and the Iterian League.

Etymology

The name "Zhen" originated from one of the Ascalonian characters of the Zhen dynasty (真王朝). Da Zhen diguo (大真帝国; meaning Great Zhen Empire), Zhenguo (真國) or "True Country", and the dynasty name were used to refer Zhen as the true successor state to the Empire of Dazhou and to reject Goyanean sovereignty over its former territories. When Zhen gave up all claims to former Dazhou lands after Goyanes returned Zhenmen in 1999, the official translation was changed from "True Country" to "Enlightened Country." In the Umbrial Script, it is also translated as "Chengguo."

History

Ancient Zhen

The first humans lived in Zhen between 2.24 million and 250,000 years ago. The hominid remains of the "First Zhen", famously known as the Gaodu Man, was dated between 680,000 and 780,000 years ago, found in a cave near Gaodu. Modern findings suggest that the earliest form of civilization in Zhen entered the Neolithic Age by 4050 BCE. Numerous tools made of stones, shells, bones, jades, and ceramics were found scattered in Gongmenzhou. Spinning wheels were also found. The two major Neolithic groups, the Guiyang people and the Riko people, co-existed peacefully in Southern Zhen. Both cultures lived in long, stilt communal houses. Hunting and fishing were predominant sources of food. Agricultural settlements were few.

A jade disk from the Neolithic Age, found at Gongmenzhou, Qingrendong.

Between 5500 and 3300 BCE, evidence from that period found in archaeological sites by the Guiyang River has shown that the Guiyang successfully domesticated and cultivated rice. Hoes made out of animal bones and stones were used. The Guiyang also made bowls out of lacquer wood. Wood was important to fasten sharpened bones as arrowheads for their bows, which they used for fishing and hunting. Towards the end of the Neolithic Age, the Guiyang learned how to make pottery. They also made ornaments out of jade and crafted clay and wooden figurines. Ceramic art revealed sericulture was cultivated since 2700 BCE.

Among the Riko, clan leadership hierarchies were matriarchal in comparison to the patriarchal Guiyang. Riko women and children usually ranked higher social status. Most Riko leaders were women. Their priestesses led the cross-people worship towards sun and fertility spirits, converting many stilt houses to shrines and performed shamanistic rituals.

Growing conflicts between Riko and Guiyang peoples eventually grew due to land disputes. Most of the Riko founded new settlements in the Guiyang River Valley. Faunal remains in the Guiyang Valley, indicating the Riko have domesticated pigs. Archaeologists excavated mountainside paddy fields in the Guiyang Valley. This is where clan socio-politics shifted from matrilineal-descent leadership to patrilineal.

By 2500 BCE, people from both Riko and Guiyang peoples began to migrate south in search of new land.

Pre-imperial Zhen

In circa 2070–1600 BCE, new techniques were introduced from Skanda on rice cultivation. This led to the increase of rice farmers in Ascalon and along the coast of Zhen. The Skandans influenced millet growers in the South Zhen Plains, which have a wet and dry climate which is bad for millet, to transition to rice growing for greater yields.

Wine-drinking vessel from the Bronze Age.

Sedentary Ano'ans called the Dongfan people (東番; meaning "Eastern Savages") came around 1600 BCE from the Zhenmen Islands and settled in spread-out communities across the North Zhen Plains. They had a difficult though manageable relationship with the mainlanders, often securing peace through inter-clan marriages and generous trade.

When the Riko and Guiyang entered the bronze age in circa 1250-1200 BCE, settlers from Takashima, or the Wo people (倭), migrated to the North Zhen Plains. They were joined by the Huaxifangxia nomads (华西方夏), meaning the "Magnificent People of the Western Light." They lost their homeland around 2500 BCE to the invading Iziku people who also came from Takashima.

The new Riko and Guiyang settlements in Ascalon became centers of bronze and copper production in the region. City-states and principalities were formed along the Ascalonian coast as visitors from Skanda frequented the area with trade and new knowledge. The Skandans introduced the Kensu faith and shared their language, which the Riko and Guiyang peoples adopted and would later lead to the creation of a new language and unite the two peoples as the "Ascalonian people."

In Northern Zhen, though the lands were fertile, the collective trauma of the expelled Huaxifangxia people drove them to continue their nomadic way of life. They roamed the North Zhen Plains and united in a nomadic confederation called the Tsenkher Ord (Blue Horde) to defend themselves from their fear of Skandan invasion. Pastoral and lived in portable tents, the Huaxifangxia easily spread out across the Uplands and practiced Bougdan, a shamanistic and animistic belief. They gradually became hostile towards outsiders and, after years of jealousy, regularly raided the prosperous south and the eastern borders of Takashima and Skanda.

Lacquer painting from Dazhou, 316 BCE. Men are wearing an earlier form of Tianfu and riding on a horse chariot.

The unification of Skanda under the Kingdom of Kiyumashu in 376 BCE provoked Ascalonian clans to a series of wars between 300 BCE and 202 BCE called the "Unification Wars." Powerful clans fought and sought the support of fellow clans to lead a united Ascalonian nation. The Tsenkher Ord, guarded by a formidable army that could conquer Ascalonian South Iteria, refused to support any clan and only sent mercenaries to any clan who could afford them.

Zhu Zheng and his family, the Zhu clan, ruled the mercantile City of Dazhou. He promised Oghul Khan, leader of the Tsenkher Ord, that they will reign as co-rulers over the new united Ascalonian nation in exchange for Tsenkher support. In 12 February 202 BCE, or the 1st day in year 1 of the Dazhou Imperial Calendar (达州帝国历; meaning Dazhou Empire calendar), the city-states and clans were united, with the help of the Tsenkher Ord, by the new Tian dynasty and formed the Empire of Dazhou. To appeal to the religious sensibilities of the people, Zheng founded the Tianxia faith and proclaimed himself Tianzi (天子), or "Son of Heaven," and instituted Tianming (天命; lit. meaning "heaven's will"), the "Mandate of Heaven," for future imperial succession. This concept was inspired by the Skandan divine rights of the Kōʻi.

Oghul Khan also adopted Zheng's title, which was translated in Caoyan as Khagan or "Khan of Khans," and she became Emperor of the North (北方天子). Zheng became Emperor of the South (南方天子). They held a joint enthronement ceremony in Zhujing in the then newly-built Palace of Supreme Harmony (Vermilion City). The joint ruler system has been referred to as the Gonghe system (共和; tra. "joint harmony").

Empire of Dazhou

Early Years

8th century depiction of Khagan Oghul (left) and Emperor Zheng (right.

At the time of the empire's formation, Zhen had long developed a culture: They mastered agricultural techniques, built walled cities, and developed bronze technology. They had also invented an advanced system of writing which was the early foundation of the Ascalonian script, which itself was the foundation of Skandan Ikama script. The people were deeply religious and applied this in almost every aspect of daily life.

They believed in a multitude of deities and spiritual forces that controlled nature and destiny, offering them extravagant offerings to seek their wisdom and protection. Most of these offerings were animal sacrifices, which they also used to invoke the spirits. A clan-based society, they worshiped their ancestors apart from a number of gods.

Zhen people asked spirits through divination rituals where they inscribed their wishes on ox-bones or tortoise shells, to name a few. These were called "oracle bones" (甲骨). Diviners grew from this culture as a profession and began to perform the rituals themselves.

Zheng, who had become Emperor, adopted the reign title "Kaihuang" or "Impenetrable Victory." In 200 BCE, he assembled the Ascalonian clan rulers and the Caoyan khans in the Caoyan capital of Avraga (modern-day Zhujing) to organize an efficient government to rule Dazhou. With his new and demanding religious duties, Zheng could not effectively exercise his other new imperial and secular role. He appointed lesser lords to administer lands in return for tributes in part of their obligation to pay imperial homage.

Oghul made attempts to invade Skanda and Takashima between 190-183 BCE, but was always at odds with Zheng, who tolerated her campaigns for the sake of the Empire's unity. Raiding border towns and territorial disputes were exaggerated to build up conflict. Thus began the Caoyan ambition to conquer Skanda and Takashima.

Tributes and imperial homages eventually became frequent in and after the end of Zheng's reign and established the basis of a monarch-vassal relationship between the emperor and the lesser lords. In 60 BCE, there was another assembly of lords in Avraga where Emperor Wu instituted "Fengjian" (封建; lit. "enfeoffment and establishment"). It is a system of governance that defined the basic political and social structure of Dazhou, which was a decentralized form of government that respected the privilege of the lesser lords and limited the powers of the Emperor and the Khagan. Under Fengjian, the people were divided into seven categories: Wangzi (王子; the Emperor, the Khagan, and their families), Gongzi (公子; nobility), Shi (士; scholars), Wu (武; warriors), Shang (商; merchant and traders), Gong (工; artisans), and Nong (农/農, peasants).

Before the end of the 1st Century BCE, the prospering ports in Ascalon motivated traders and people to look at the northeast and populate the Zhen coast. They created new ports and the new economic opportunities increased foreign interests in trade with Dazhou. The Zhen coast, particularly Sihuan in Chaoyang province, attracted many foreigners and its harbors became major ports to visit. The expanded trade network gave value and convenience to nearby arable plains in East Zhen, and attracted farmers from the South Zhen Plains. As more coastal towns and farming villages sprung up along the Zhen coast, the rise of a new center of trade rivaled even the great port cities in Ascalon. The continued development of agriculture in the region gave Zhen the reputation of "Rice Granary of the Empire."

Views of Zhen from paintings. Clockwise from upper left: A 10th century painting of a water mill. The bridge scene from Xu Feng's 11th century painting "Along the River During the Imperial New Year Festival." An Ascalonian junk from "Along the River During the Imperial New Year Festival." A pagoda in Sihuan, Chaoyang.

In the 1st Century CE, the Lakhic Church established a foothold in Avraga and built the Chapel of St. Monkh. It was the first Messianic faith in Zhen.

By the end of the 2nd Century, growing political unrest in Skanda had greatly weakened the Kiyumashu dynasty. In 125 CE, Khagan Möngke and Emperor Wen led their armies to Skanda and invaded their eastern territory in a united effort to subjugate them in the 1st Dazhou War of Skandan Subjugation. After the Dazhou forces occupied and ravaged much of Eastern Skanda, the Kiyumashu dynasty was usurped by the Wakayama dynasty. The new Wakayama kōʻi, Koiki Wakayama (equivalent to a king) called for negotiations. The peace settlement was the concession of the eastern Skandan territories of Senkoi (Shanbei) and Yamatsu (Shanzhong).

Battle between the Uulyn and Dazhou armies in 1124 depicted in a Rafhazani book.

Uulyn conquest and rule

Sharing common heritage, the Caoyans recognized the Tsaizargans west of Skanda and maintained a mutually beneficial alliance for years. But in 1107, futile disagreements between the Caoyans and the Tsaizargans over plans to conquer Iraelia forced Ajinai Khan to proceed on his own, without Dazhou support. He united the Tsaizargans and proclaimed the Uulyn Khaganate. In 1115, Ajinai successfully invaded Iraelia. In 1118, he led his armies north and defeated the Astragonese, taking most of Southern Astragon. Then Rafhazan and Southern Bashime in 1120.

The Uulyn were ruthlessly uncompromising, pillaging and burning down entire villages and cities either out of spite or tactical movement, striking fear upon the denizens of their territories. The people were easily submissive to the Uulyn. In 1124, to avoid the destructive forces of the Uulyn armies, Dazhou proclaimed Ajinai Khan as the "Emperor of Emperors" (万天子之王; lit. King of Ten Thousand Heavenly Sons). Skanda followed no sooner, but unlike the Dazhou, they resisted and tried to stop the Uulyn invasion. Takashima was the last South Iterian country to fall under Uulyn rule in 1125.

In 1128, Caoyan Khagan Ögedei asked Ajinai if there were any plans to invade Alnaria. The Uulyn Khagan replied, "The Heavens have mercy. The Alnarians have none." Disturbed by the Uulyn's fear of Alnaria, Ögedei ordered a great wall to be built along the northern borders. Though traders from both Alnaria and Zhen continued to travel to and fro without much interruption at the new designated entry points. But with a new wall built, the movement of people and goods were streamlined and most illegal activities at the borders became manageable. Despite the so-claimed threat, the Great Wall of Ögedei has never seen an actual war ever since its construction was finished in 1172.

Traditional fortified and communal Zhen tulou houses near the Ascalonian border.

Remnants of the Great Wall of Ögedei in Changcheng, Changcheng Province.

Under Uulyn rule, Ajinai famously remarked, "A virgin could walk with a basket full of gold from one corner of the empire to the other without ever coming to harm." Their rule, though firm, was tolerant of all cultures and religious creeds. The Uulyn undermined the Fengjian system, blurring it with meritocratic preferences for the Uulyn imperial bureaucracy. Individual merit took precedence over wealth, ethnicity, and hereditary descent. Mandatory civil service exams and schools for officials were introduced, breeding competition and awarded actual performance in governmental service.

The Uulyn also built the Road of Silver, a network of roads that connected Zhen, Ascalon, Skanda, Takashima, Iraelia, Astragon, and Bashime. The heart of this transcontinental road network was Zara, the capital of the Uulyn Khaganate in Tsaizargan, and it was connected with the historical economic hubs of South Iteria, such as Zhujing, Dazhou, Kuhena, and Adonai Jireh. This helped lessen travel time in trade and eased the transport of goods throughout Iteria, and also served as the basis for the routes of the highly efficient Uulyn system of horseback couriers, known as the dacun morin. Remnants of the Road of Silver exist to this day in some regions of South Iteria. Expert foreigners were invited to the Uulyn khagan's court. They helped in imperial administration and gave new ideas for the greater prosperity of the empire.

It was also a great time for Zhen philosophy. Restrictions on the possession of certain books and the formation of a professional bureaucracy gave rise to a new intellectual elite. Caoyan-Astragonese philosopher Baako criticized the elitism and requirement of high lineage in positions of influence, which was limited to the Ascalonians and a few Caoyans, who were still discriminated against despite their equal standing.

Known for his hatred of the Astragonese caste system, Baako pointed out that any man can serve according to his personal achievements and not only by birthright, and said, "Water seeks low places, resists nothing, but fills and overcomes everything." He also pointed out the futility of imperial power and the vassal lords, calling for the limitation of their powers by sharing them with the common folk and use power as a responsibility, to be benevolent and to look after the realm and adequately meet the needs of its people, who would command enough soldiers to defend them, and who would use morals rather than laws in state decisions.

As a measure to strengthen village defenses against a possible Alnarian invasion, the Uulyn innovated tulou houses (土楼; lit. earthen buildings). Large, enclosed and circular earth buildings with thick walls that can house up to 800 people. These buildings resemble small fortified cities and are usually between three to five-storeys high. The Uulyn settlements in Northern Zhen and a few sedentary Caoyan villages were obligated to build these dwellings, which gave more land to farms due to the less space used for housing. Farmers in other parts of Zhen began to build tulou houses. Their shape was said to be inspired by the circular Tsaizargan tents.

Ajinai's successors were incompetent and were unable to maintain most of their inherited territories as they slowly broke away and restored independence. After Uulyn Khagan Nurha's death in 1201, the political presence of the Uulyn Empire drastically decreased in the imperial courts at Dazhou, and Uulyn soldiers were nowhere near its vast numbers back in its day. In 1204, the Empire of Dazhou regained its freedom after chasing out whatever supporters the Uulyn had left in Avraga and Dazhou and captured Uulyn officials were publicly executed.

Golden Years

The shared military powers of the co-ruling emperor and khagan shifted to the latter when in 1248 CE, Khagan Güyük began the Khagan Invasion of Skanda without the consent of Emperor Xuan, hoping to take advantage of a still weak ‘Empire’ of Ishiyama after they had spent much of their resources expelling the remnants of the Maru-based Uulyn Khaganate.

Though the Skandans doubted the ability of the Dazhou armies to traverse the Akitu Mountains efficiently, they were prepared for the worst and dug in with heavy fortifications in Akitu Mountains. Caoyan forces began siege after siege in Atsumare (Northeastern Skanda) but were unsuccessful in their invasion of Skanda; the Skandans were far too well dug into their mountain fortifications to permit a full scale invasion as had occurred a millenia prior and the Dazhou forces were repelled. The war ended with a white peace as Ishiyama had no territorial ambitions in Dazhou, and only demanded monetary reparations and a peace treaty.

15th Century painting of a palace in Zhen at the height of The Golden Years.

At the conclusion of the 2nd and final Dazhou Conquest of Takashima in 1351, the new territorial addition put the Empire in a secure position in South Iteria and was facing a long period of peace. The Caoyans, who were occupied in war and periodic raids, began an experiment in a sedentary way of life. As a nomadic culture, their mobile settlements rotated around their territories, which were designated for their exclusive use while they shared the land with the Dongfan and new settlers from Ascalon. To assert their ownership of territories, they built a few yet central permanent settlements. However, they were more like outposts and military garrisons than actual towns and villages.

Throughout the late 14th and early 15th centuries, the relatively long-term stability that overshadowed wars and border skirmishes encouraged Dazhou warlords and the elite to pursue the arts, knowledge, and religious philosophy.

These were the Golden Years (黄金岁月; lit. The Best of Times). It was the most prosperous period of Zhen history with significant developments in art, literature, and technology. The renewed, now cultured hereditary elite, who staffed most governmental offices, made innovations in literary and material culture.

The Golden Years laid down most of the foundation of Zhen norms. The Cardinal Virtues of Dazhou Subjects was established, as defined by Zhen philosopher Ah Sun: Inner integrity, righteousness, loyalty, reciprocity and, above all, love or human-heartedness. Although he believes that only cultured men can attain these virtues, ordinary men also can through learning, respect and conformity to tradition and faith, and self-cultivation. It was also the duty of cultured men to enlighten others.

Sun also believed that, in a society of hereditary leadership and categorized social status, men should live and serve accordingly in their assigned roles. In direct contrast to Baako, he characterized it by saying, "There is good government, when the prince is prince and the minister is minister; when the father is father and the son is son."

Zhen Warring Clans

Fall of Imperial Dazhou

Gaozhu, last Emperor of the Tian dynasty.

Although neighboring Skanda has had a cycle of dynasty changes, the Tian dynasty that founded the Empire of Dazhou survived as its lone ruling imperial lineage. But as the 16th century ended and the new century began, the prosperity of the Golden Years have long faded. The Tian dynasty, for the first time in 1,800 years, was about to witness its decline: Palace intrigue that routinely divided monarchs and officials were exacerbated by meddlesome corps of consorts, eunuchs, and generals.

Life has been bearable for Dazhou subjects thanks to the state's adherence to benevolent and ethical philosophies from Baako and Ah Sun, up until social unrest uprooted cultural enlightenment in the 17th century. The Western Protectorate (Takashima, Shanbei, and Shenzhong) sapped the imperial treasury to finance military action against the numerous peasant rebellions after continuous years of inflated currency and famine.

In 1620, silver for the Western Protectorate were stolen by a eunuch of one of the Emperor's concubines, who both disappeared from court and left frustrated protectorate officials to accuse Emperor Gaozhu for spending it in extravagance. Although Emperor Gaozhu notably exhausted the treasury upon his accession by building palaces, pagodas, and pavilions, and did commission the expansion of the Palace of Supreme Harmony in a massive form that is today recognizable as Vermilion City, his closest advisors admitted in their private journals that the Emperor simply overlooked the extent of imperial court corruption and hoped it will be forgotten just as he did.

In 1626, Protector General Hongji of the West organized a coup when Gaozhu met Khagan Yesün in Avriga, who also supported the Protector General's plot. They beheaded the Emperor in front of an assembled crowd who gathered to see the commotion at the palace. Hongji proclaimed, "He (Gaozhu) was contemptuous of the spirits of Heaven, the World, and of the temple of his ancestors. There was no Son of Heaven. Heaven commanded me to kill a pig."

Khagan Yesün was supposed to go to Dazhou to inform the imperial court there of the Emperor's death, which was customary if either co-monarch died in the other's domain, but Hongji told him he would do it instead. Hongji arrived at the Dazhou capital with an army, including forces from the garrison in Avriga, to seize the city. He arrested the imperial family, officials, and other courtiers he accused were involved in Gaozhu's criminal decadence. He told the arrested Grand Chancellor Yingying, "The iniquity of the Tian is full. Heaven commands me to destroy it." The crown prince and the Emperor's favorite concubines were executed.

Loyalist Zhen lords who escaped the situation in Dazhou gathered other lords from all over the Empire of Dazhou. Rumors of Khagan Yesün's plan to become sole Emperor was used as the pretext of the Compatriots Rebellion, which tried to restore the Gonghe system. Their leader, Meilin of the Sima Jin clan, Gaozhu's chief army commander and a Tian loyalist had a rough rural and martial charisma. His modest background of a small march lord in Northern Zhen appealed to Loyalist aristocrats, bureaucrats, and soldiers. They were able to restore capital city Dazhou under Tian dynasty rule, arresting Hongji and his followers, but the damage of the chaos that ensued earlier had already reached the far corners of the empire.

Fearful of execution, Khagan Yesün abdicated and abandoned his throne to his 2-year-old son Ariq. Yesün fled to Tsaizargan where he disappeared into hiding. He was the last Khagan of the Caoyans after his son was deposed when Caoyan mobs stormed Vermilion City. With no emperor or khagan, and both imperial courts in Dazhou and Avriga in complete disarray, the empire was thrown into anarchy.

Loyalist lords and generals tried to maintain order while the other rebellious noble clans carved new territories, all fighting to proclaim a new imperial dynasty. In 1628, the imperial bureaucracy, under an unstable successive cycle of various deputy chancellors, lost control over the clans and the Dazhou armies joined the clan wars. By 1630, high offices of the Dazhou bureaucracy disintegrated. Provincial and prefecture bureaucrats were left at the mercy of arbitrary lords, neither guided by protocol nor supported by a professional, homogeneous imperial bureaucracy.

Goyanean garrison surrender to Meilin's forces in Sihuan, 1629.

In 1629, the Goyanean South Iteria Company (GSIC) invited Goyanean diplomats to help them negotiate further concessions from the now fragmented states of Dazhou. A decade earlier, Emperor Gaozhu granted Goyanes most favored nation status, extraterritoriality, and leased territories, in his attempt to attract more Northern traders to Dazhou. Sihuan in Zhen was one of them and, later, became the center of resistance against a Goyanean conspiracy to conquer Southern Dazhou. An unnamed Goyanean trader informed Meilin about GSIC plans to unite Dazhou under their rule.

Meilin gathered Loyalist supporters and managed to secure Ariq, the only known legitimate heir to Imperial Dazhou. They took over Sihuan, a Goyanean treaty port, and persuaded clan states to unite and join them to stop Goyanes.

Initially, most Dazhou states pledged their allegiance to the cause. Constant bickering between the competing warlords have caused the alliance to become inept and gradually weaken over the course of five years. The Southern Dazhou states, who benefit from Goyanean relations, were reluctant and never joined the alliance. Meanwhile, in 1630, Goyanean soldiers arrived in the Southern Dazhou clan states of Jiangdong, Jiangxi, Hu'nan, and Kuaijiang. They reinforced garrisons in ports and leased territories after receiving word from Jiangdong of an impending Northern Dazhou invasion.

The Battle of Dazhou began when Meilin's forces took over Dazhou in August 1, 1634. The city was divided between local elite clans and criminal syndicates. They were given a choice to either leave or pledge allegiance to Ariq. The boy was proclaimed Emperor Daizong with Meilin as Regent.

Battle of Dazhou, Loyalist forces invade the city.

The new Regent re-assembled his forces of 500 Zhen regulars, 1,200 Caoyan regulars, and 8,000 militia from the various allied clan states. They garrisoned at the Dazhou Port Batteries to secure military supplies and man the artilleries. Unbeknownst to them, a Goyanean naval squadron was coming to Dazhou on its way to defeat Meilin in Sihuan. The Goyaneans had 1,500 regulars, 2 artillery companies, 800 Ascalonian mercenaries, and 1,400 GSIC Companymen. An additional 3,000 seamen crewed 8 ships of line, 3 frigates, and 4 store ships.

The Goyaneans managed to capture a loosely-defended fort outside the city before they entered Dazhou on August 4. The Goyanean army marched towards the Imperial Palace through the streets of the Outer City and converted sacred temples into forts. Goyanean ships bombarded the city batteries, killing most of Meilin's now scattered forces. A quarter of the militia surrendered or deserted and left the city. On August 8, the Goyanean forces surrounded the Inner City and cut off supplies.

After 11 days of siege, Meilin finally surrendered on August 19. He and his men were arrested. Ariq was put in the care of Rear Admiral Ragnar Rudolfsson. Unlike his father, the boy emperor was taken to Yangshi where he spent the rest of his life as a colonial bureaucrat. In 1635, Meilin died of consumption while in prison.

Over the course of the entire decade, GSIC devised clan marriages and overthrew local rulers to install handpicked pro-Goyanean leaders. The formal annexation of Dazhou (city) as a colony of Goyanes in 1637 marked the end of Imperial Dazhou. The former Southern Dazhou states became protectorates and they were collectively known as Ascalon. In the process, Loyalist Ascalonians, most from the imperial capital, migrated north to form a resistance.

Warring Clans Period

19th Century depiction of Ascyans destroying Goyanean goods in the Warring Clans Period.

The structured political system of former Imperial Dazhou not only maintained a professional bureaucracy to ensure efficient and productive rule, it also put Ascyan (Name used to distinguish Ascalonians in Zhen; eventually became its own culture) in more important positions. Caoyans easily outnumbered them and Dazhou officials had to depend on local rulers to keep them in check. Without Dazhou support, the Caoyan elite suffered a fate worse than the Dazhou elite.

Traditionally a nomadic people, the new feudal system that gradually developed in Caoyan lands were resented by the commoners, who have been stratified as peasants. These hardy barbarian people, though were brought under the fold of Zhen, dominating them in politics and culture, did not forget their roots. The power vacuum left by the fall of Dazhou in 1637 became the catalyst of a series of peasant revolts in North Zhen against the Caoyan feudal lords.

Former Caoyan soldiers of the Imperial Dazhou army replaced their local lords with their generals. They led campaigns against each other to establish a Caoyan dynasty.

In South Zhen, the Ascyan people who were not conquered by the Caoyan warlords were rallied by Loyalist Ascalonians. They called on them to reclaim their homeland. Due to conflicting interests, the Ascyans were divided and the Loyalists supported their own "heirs" to the Empire of Dazhou. Most of them were children of surviving concubines of Emperor Gaozhu. The concubines married Loyalist leaders to further their own influences. Some manipulative Loyalists used their own children.

Deep-seated divisions between the Ascyans and the Caoyans became prominent during this period. In 1640, the Ascyan clans formed a confederation to keep the Caoyans out of South Zhen. Gripped by paranoia, Ascyans viewed Caoyans in South Zhen with high suspicion. At first, the Caoyans were discriminated against through segregation and were banned from their high societal positions. They were soon forcibly expelled from their own homes. The event was called the Great Ascyan Exile of Caoyans.

Two opposing Caoyan clan armies charging.

Fearing for their lives, Caoyans hastily left South Zhen, leaving behind valuables and priceless artifacts. Their properties were looted and seized by their respective Ascyan clan lords. However, a number of Ascyans in the ruling clan families were tolerated but were known by the pejorative "Dongfan" (Eastern Savages), the name used to describe the first Caoyans.

But what the Ascyans did to the Caoyans pales in comparison to what they did to the Goyaneans in the Xifan Rebellion (7-11 September 1641). The Goyaneans were called "Xifan" (西方; meaning "Western Savages"). GSIC soldiers and employees situated in South Zhen were rounded up and imprisoned. The Ascyans amputated their noses, ears, and genitals. When the corpses were sent to Ascalon, their mouths were stuffed with their dismembered body parts. Nails were also found embedded in their bodies, which was used to slowly torture them.

Up north, the Caoyans did not only torture Goyanean traders. Priests and teachers in Messianist missions were attacked and beheaded. The churches and schools they built were either repurposed for other uses or simply burned down. In one account from Harald Torgersson, a survivor of the Razing of Fushui Church, described Caoyan soldiers forcing priests and teachers with their families inside the church. Built of wood, the church quickly caught on fire. Anyone who attempted to get out was immediately killed by Caoyans blocking every exit. Torgersson was the last and the only person who successfully attempted to escape. The Caoyans told him he was spared so that he could live to tell the tale to the Goyaneans.

In retaliation, GSIC relied on the manpower and reach of criminal syndicate Tiandihui (天地會; lit. meaning "Heaven and Earth Society"). They were the go-to smugglers for enterprising foreigners, frequently trading goods and information in the black market. The unfortunate events that followed between 1642-1644 were known as the Rape of North Dazhou. Protected by GSIC soldiers, Tiandihui gangs invaded the Ascyan countryside. They pillaged and razed farms, towns, and villages. Survivors who fled to the cities suffered a second attack from looting GSIC armies. Old palaces and temples were raided. Several landmarks such as Vermillion City were almost destroyed in the process. In the coastal areas, Ascyans and Caoyans were devastated by GSIC privateers and other hired pirates.

Great Unification and Syrixian rule

Syrixian officer with a rifle, 17th century.

The disunited lands of North Dazhou saw seven violent years of power struggle and foreign subjugation. It embittered Ascyans, Caoyans, and Ascalonians in deeper, entrenched hatred for each other. For people in the north, it renewed their collective hatred of Goyanean colonization with mass paranoia. Formerly viewed with inconvenient marginal suspicion, the humiliated Ascyans and Caoyans identified Goyaneans with both spiritual and secular concepts of evil. Visitors from Ascalon were shunned by Ascyans and Caoyans. Norden traders (Gojan word for "Nordic," colloquially used as an umbrella term for people from the Global North) were publicly beaten and executed by angry mobs.

As a result, traders turned to Tiandihui and other criminal syndicates in the black market. Goods traded with foreigners and Ascalonians had to be smuggled. Otherwise, not only did traders risked retribution from angry locals, traders would have dealt with roaming bands of bandits. The bandits descended upon the main roads and imposed illegal tolls at major marketplaces. They were used by powerful landowners and the remaining lesser lords to preserve the vestiges of their former authority by coercing their own peasants. Tiandihui gangs especially patrolled the Ascalonian and Skandan borders where they controlled the flow of goods.

The Sima Jin clan was the main benefactor of the Tiandihui. Originally established in 1511 as a secret police by Emperor Chengzu, the existence of Tiandihui evolved from its founding purpose due to corruption, mainly from the schemes of Sima Jin leadership of the organization. They were an established Ascalonian family of merchants from Jiangxi. With their wealth and influence, they did favors for the Imperial Courts at Dazhou and Avriga. In return, their family always held inner court and high government positions.

Notably, a Sima Jin was always appointed governor of their home province. However, imperial bureaucracy saw them as threats to a rigid system of professional governance staffed by educated civil servants. When Chengzu died in 1559, Grand Chancellor Gongren expelled the Sima Jin clan from the imperial courts. Due to the absolute secrecy of Tiandihui, Sima Jin maintained control of the organization. They turned to illegal activities such as forgery and contract killing, and eventually entered the black market trade where the Sima Jin made most of their fortune.

A lithograph of Emperor Yizong's portrait, 1909. This was the original Vermilion Throne from Emperor Lianzong's 1644 enthronement. It was destroyed by Emperor Kaihuang in the Zhen Revolution.

In 1642, Sima Jin clan head Marquis Jun of Ouyang Ting met with Syrixian diplomats. The Syrixian Empire had its interests in Iteria and looked further south beyond its Iraelian possessions. They considered Goyanean expansion, given their long-standing rivalry, an undermining presence against Syrixian colonial ambitions. Marquis Jun also had his own imperial ambitions.

The following year, Syrixia sent an expeditionary force under the pretense of defending Marquis Jun, his lands, and other lesser lords under his protection. Unbeknownst to the Goyaneans pillaging North Dazhou with Tiandihui assistance, Marquis Jun planned to use the havoc they have wreaked to instill fear and unite against a common enemy. For Marquis Jun, the Goyaneans and other Nordens have no place in Iteria.

Weakened and devastated by the relentless Goyanean raids, lesser lords turned to Marquis Jun for help. In return, they swore allegiance to him. By 1643, the Ascyans in North Dazhou were united under Marquis Jun.

In early 1644, Marquis Jun led Syrixian forces to invade Caoyans. If victory is guaranteed, Jun promised to lease the Zhenmen Islands. The armies of the Caoyan clan lords were caught unawares owing to their own scramble for power. Surviving commanders invited the self-proclaimed khans to Avriga to gain their support for peaceful negotiations with the Ascyans. The Caoyan lords refused and, instead, insisted on defending Caoyans from another foreign power. Dagun Khan, the most outspoken among the khans, was convinced the Syrixians only intended to expand their colonial empire in South Iteria and would use Marquis Jun as a puppet emperor.

Dagun Khan was the last Caoyan clan lord to surrender to the Ascyans. On March 16, 1644, Marquis Jun became Emperor Lianzhong, Khagan of the Caoyans, and founder of the Zhen dynasty. The enthronement ceremony held at Vermillion City was witnessed by Prince Purindra, representing Syrixia.

Prince Purindra later concluded a treaty of alliance with Lianzhong. The treaty consolidated a new Syrixian possession, rather than the restoration of an ancient Iterian empire. Dhagan Khan questioned the legitimacy of the ceremony by telling an Alnarian envoy, "The Syrixians, like a peasant mother carrying a matronly rice basket, happily delivered the Mandate of Heaven to the hungry infant who is now squirming on the Vermilion Throne."

Though the new Emperor claimed the Great Zhen Empire is the rightful successor to Imperial Dazhou, reinstating the Dazhou Imperial Calendar and claiming Ascalon, Zhen was established as a Syrixian protectorate.

Views of late 17th-century Zhen. A collection by Mengke Bateer, inspired and named after Xu Feng's "Along the River during the Imperial New Year Festival". From top to bottom: 1782 recreation of Xu Feng's bridge scene painting. The private docks of the Imperial Chuans (Zhen sailing ship) in Sihuan. The busy roads at the Guzi Gate, Zhujing.

From then on, Zhen was incredibly hostile to any sign of a Goyanean incursion and granted asylum to anti-Goyanean groups. Mostly Syrixian and Andrennian privateers made regular visits. The Syrixian colonial government controlled affairs in the Zhen mainland from its trading post in the Zhenmen Islands, their newly-acquired territory.

Though Emperor Lianzhong is widely remembered as a puppet emperor, his administrative and economic reforms brought back the way of life most people used to enjoy under Imperial Dazhou. Old imperial institutions such as the Dazhou bureaucracy were restored. To ensure unity between Ascyans and the Caoyans, he decreed all new laws must also be published in the Caoyan language.

Nanjing "Ginling" (金陵, Gold Hill) Street, Zhujing. By Johannes Meurs, 1668.

Sihuanslott, the principal imperial residence. It was built in 1793 by Sihuan locals as a gift to Emperor Qinzong.

Lianzhong was aware of the waning influence of the Caoyan lords on imperial military and government. He began the process of ascyanization, assimilating Caoyans in Ascyan culture to assert dominance over the proud martial Caoyans. In 1657, Avriga was renamed to Zhujing.

In 1660, Lianzhong also introduced The Yassa, the code of law for Caoyans. It initially regulated their everyday life and local politics, but it was later amended to include other provisions beyond The Yassa's original coverage. It effectively became the code of law for the Zhen Empire and is considered the first Zhen constitution. Notably, it banned nomadism, slavery, and banned hunting during breeding season and guaranteed academic and religious freedoms. It later included provisions to encourage free trade to break down the centuries-old dichotomy in debates between domestic and international trade. The Yassa also exempted the poor and clerics from taxation.

Lianzhong's son and successor, Emperor Aizong, ascended the Vermilion Throne in 1673 and inherited a very stable, prosperous empire. To strengthen this stability, Aizong administered extensive reforms in imperial finances and governance. He limited court and government spending for greater accountability. The army and nobility were prohibited from harming citizens and issuing edicts without prior authorization from provincial governors. He centralized monetary affairs by creating the Ministry of Contributions, a massive administrative organ staffed with imperial agents whose primary duty is to collect taxes. This is the originator of future finance ministries.

In 1704, Syrixia began a massive invasion to conquer Alnaria. Zhen was used as a staging point for forces deployed from the south. But when Syrixia was defeated in 1707, Emperor Aizong made diplomatic overtures for closer ties between Zhen and Alnaria, famously remarking "The victors are kings, the defeated are bandits, and Rajesh is dead." Poking fun at Syrixians lauding a "successful retreat" of the largest invasion attempt by Syrixians in history.

In 1749, anti-Goyanean sentiments resurged in Zhen when GSIC established a trading post in Sihuan. Despite internal and public pressure on the imperial court to prohibit any further significant Goyanean economic activity, The Yassa prevented officials from persecuting foreign merchants. Zhen merchants were considered official diplomats and were automatically made courtiers. This same respect was extended to foreigners.

However, it did not stop Zhen from terrorizing foreign merchants. Over the first half of the century, the Zhen government had established an informal yet very close relationship with privateers who routinely offered services to Zhen officials in return for their continued unheeded presence at their ports. In 1757, Emperor Yuanzong met the Yalken pirate Daelin Ostad. He was often hired to raid Goyanean ships in Iteria and was responsible for nearly half of trade route losses incurred by GSIC merchant ships due to piracy. Of all the privateers, Ostad was the imperial court's favorite.

Towards the mid-18th century, violent anti-Goyanean tendencies reached fever-pitch when Ascyans in Sihuan began a race war against mixed Norden-Ascyans. The Goyaneans called them "Tjing-tjong" (An onomatopoeic pejorative). Thousands of Tjing-tjong sought refuge in Ascalon and the Zhenmen Islands. Syrixian authorities in Zhenmen tolerated the refugees as tenants to work as farmers for the colony's growing sugar economy.

The resumption of a long, relative peace and undisturbed economic growth led to the rise of the Shang, the mercantile class, as leading figures of the new societal order. They shaped the emerging market economy that oversaw the economic re-development of Zhen as a major trade center. Sihuan, its port heart of the Zhen economy, became synonymous with the empire's wealth. Zhujing, now sole imperial capital, was made opulent again by this newfound prosperity. Old palaces and temples destroyed by a century of conflicts were rebuilt. In 1793, the people of Sihuan gifted Emperor Qinzong a palace, which would later become the government headquarters of Goyanean Zhenmen known as Sihuanslott.

Dadaoyelu "Gojantown", Sihuan in 1806.

Syrixian rule was the catalyst of Zhen's incipient industrialization and capitalism. Their market introduced new ideas and injected bold investments in the Zhen economy. The trend helped build a flourishing textile industry, which led to a diversification of the empire's traditionally agriculture-based economy. Cosmopolitan port cities like Sihuan, the new banking and trade hubs, attracted steady influxes of foreign visitors and provincial migrants. Its successes necessitated their reorganization as independent municipalities for efficiency. Its neighboring cities became hosts to both foreign and domestic factories.

But soon, anti-Goyanean sentiments morphed to include other foreigners, such as Syrixians. Enclaves of foreigners in major cities, mostly composed by Syrixians, enjoyed extraterritoriality and lived in segregated communities. Locals were only employed by these enclaves for manual labor. Emperor Xizong personally suspected Syrixians of plotting to do what the Goyaneans did with Ascalon and replace him with direct Syrixian rule. In 1807, Xizong established the Cohong to centralize and regulate commercial trade. It was a mandatory guild for Zhen merchants, especially for foreign merchants operating in Zhen. Under this new system, Zhen merchants were categorized. Domestic merchants were called Hangshang (行商, lit. "itinerant traders") and foreign merchants were called Yanghang (洋行, lit. "ocean traders"). All mercantile activities with foreigners require sanction from the express authority of the Cohong.

End of Syrixian rule, 20th century

In 1751, the United Kingdom of Andrenne and Goyanes was defeated by Syrixia in the 1st Nordic-Imperial War. It resulted in the Goyanean territorial loss of Demescia and Skanda. The weakened position of Goyanes in Iteria encouraged Ascalonian and Zhen elite to begin nationalist movements. Although it was quickly suppressed by the Goyanean and Zhen governments, it inspired Dazhou nationalism. A 19th-century movement advocating for the unification of Zhen and Ascalon.

When UKAG was dissolved in 1818, Andrenne and Goyanes divided the colonial territories. Ascalon remained under Goyanean rule. After the 2nd Nordic-Imperial War ended by Goyanean victory in 1827, as part of the Gojannesstad Accords, the Syrixians ceded the Zhenmen Islands to Goyanes and ordered Emperor Shunzong to lease the mainland province of Chaoyang to Goyanes for 200 years. Emboldened by Syrixian defeat with no intention of cooperating, Shunzong mobilized the capital garrison to surround Syrixian colonial offices in Zhujing. In response, the Syrixian Zhen Naval Squadron blocked the port in Sihuan and it proved a successful attempt to intimidate Shunzong. As a protectorate, through Shunzong's failed resistance ending in his life-long house arrest, the Zhen government reluctantly obeyed.

Politics and government

Styles, names, and forms of address

The Emperor

Zhen emperors had honorific titles. It was used to address the Emperor when he is alive. It usually composed of flattering characters describing his person (Ex. TBD). This fell into disuse after the Empire of Dazhou fell to Ajinai Khan in 1124. This was recently restored after the Zhen Revolution by Prince Meng out of amusement. Instead, he used characters mocking himself.

A system of reign titles was also used by Zhen emperors. It was used to describe important periods of his reign (Ex. TBD). There will always be at least one reign title given during his enthronement. It also fell into disuse after Ajinai conquered Dazhou.

Temple titles have served as posthumous titles for Zhen emperors. It was only given by the succeeding emperor to the late emperor when the successor registers his predecessor’s name in the Imperial Tombs. This name is commonly used to refer to most past emperors. Ex. TBD

Ever since the Syrixians united Zhen, emperors have been addressed as Wan Sui Ye (万岁爷) or "Lord of Ten Thousand Years," which was the way servants addressed the emperor in Pre-Zhen times. But thanks to Goyanean influence, the Pre-Zhen use of Bixia (陛下, lit. Bottom of the steps) has been restored and is the equivalent of “Your Majesty.” It alternated with the use of Huang Shang (皇上), meaning “[Your] Most Radiant Highness,” which is the equivalent of “Your Imperial Majesty.” The Emperor was never addressed in characters meaning "you."

In modern times, "emperor" (天子, Tianzi; lit. "Son of Heaven") is commonly-used in reference to the Zhen emperor.

Demographics

Zhouren (州人, lit. [Da]zhou people) has been used to refer to both Zhen and Ascalonian nationalities.