Shang Fa

Supreme Fa 上法 Shàng Fǎ
Flag
Motto: 無上五解放 wú shàng wǔ jiě fàng Rien n'est au-dessus des Cinq Libertés Nothing Above the Five Freedom
Capital and	Vives-Eaux
Recognised national languages	Principean Literary Huranian
Recognised regional languages	Huranian languages Tartares languages Hmong–Mien languages Qiangic languages
Ethnic groups	Huranians Tartares Erma people Hmong people
Religion	Macakkanism Perendism Jiaoism Neo-Macakkanism folk religion
Demonym(s)	自由人 zì yóu rén Freemen
Government	Constitutional monarchy

The Fa Dynasty, officially the Supreme Fa, and sometime also known as Shang Fa or Neidi, is a state in Surucia. Its political, economic, and financial capital is Vives-Eaux, where all of the Dynasty' institutions are gathered.

History

See also: Huran

Lin Dynasty (1571 – 1756)

The Lin Dynasty (林朝; Lín Cháo) was the first Dynasty of Huranian descent to rule over the Great Plain since the Kuang Dynasty and the Great Tribulation. It fought against both Tartares kingdoms and other Huranian states to expand its dominion over the entirety of Huran, although it never managed to do so. Despite recreating a purely Huranian court culture, the Lin remained heavily influenced by Tartares people, retaining the system of their predecessors whereas two separate governments operated in parallel with one another: one for the nomadic populations still inhabiting the Great Plain and the borderlands, and one for the urban Huranian populations.

It's during the Lin Dynasty that Auressians first arrived in Neidi, establishing trade ports and missions on the coastline under the strict overwatch of Imperial Supervisors. Tensions within Lin' aristocracy led to the Tan-Zheng Disorder (覃鄭亂; Tán-Zhèng Luàn), which tore down the imperial institution, before the Three-Brothers Uprising ended both the civil war and the Lin, establishing the Hong Dynasty in its stead.

Hong Dynasty (1750 – 1774)

The Three Brothers Uprising (兄弟起義; 三 Sān Xiōngdì Qǐyì) began as a peasant revolt in Pingding District (平定縣; Píngdìng Xiàn) against the double-taxation system established by the Zheng clan to finance their conflict against the Tan. The three Ruan brothers and their partisans managed to seize their province's military garrisons and defeat the Zheng and Imperial troops sent to repress them. Seeing their success, Ruan Yuan (阮元; Ruǎn Yuán) the eldest of the three brothers, established himself as King of the Western Mountains (西山王; Xīshān Wáng) and gave his brothers the rank of Princes.

The Ruan brothers then continued their warfare against the Zheng, crushing them after after a rapid succession of military campaigns that pushed them to their limits. During these campaigns, the Ruan also took over the Lin' capital, overthrowing the dynasty. It's then that, with the support of the western' Tartares tribes, the Ruan proclaimed their own regime : the Hong Dynasty.

The Tan, up until then spared by the Uprising, tried to profit from the chaos by launching large scale assault. The Tan columns were soundly defeated, losing their patriarch in battle. The survivors, led by the new Prince of Tan, were forced to flee north to escape the Hong troops who were now besieging their clan' capital.

Ruan Yuan died not long after, leaving his throne to his teenage son and the regency to the two surviving brothers. Quickly the relations between the two soured. Each led their independent campaigns to conquer the northern mountains and the southern border respecitvely, building the loyalty of their troops and acting as de-facto independent lords over the conquered lands. These divisions among the Hong would give the Prince of Tan the time needed to re-organize his troops and gather new supporters such as the remnants of the Northern Army as well as Auressian adventurers.

Former Tan (1774 – 1807)

Jean-Baptiste Chatellier as one of the twenty-four Dukes

After the Prince of Tan established his own dynasty and took the regal name of Tan Yandi, he tolerated Perenism and began employing his Blaykish supporters as officers and administrators. Principean born Jean-Baptiste Chatellier even became one of the "Pillars of the State" (zhuguo) with the honorific title of "Duke" (gong) while also serving as Resident minister for the Blaykish factories.

Tan Yandi' led large scale reforms and began the process of modernizing the state. This included getting rid of the previous dual administration in favor of a single central one, updating the program of the Imperial examination, and creating a new modern fleet based on Auressians design while also multiplying the number of canons available to the Tan' military.

When Tan Yandi' died in 1792, the throne went to his second son Tan Mingdi instead to his eldest grandson. Mingdi proved to be a much more conservative monarch, who wished to resist "Auressianisation" as he trusted neither the Principeans traders nor the Perenists missionaries. The Dynasty' administration was purged of the Reformists and Principeans who had been all powerful during his father rule. But in 1794, Viceroy Dujue refused to recognize Mingdi and instead proclaimed that his nephew was the legitimate monarch. He was supported in his rebellion by other Reformists and by the Principeans Factories. The civil war only ended in 1807, when the coalition took Beizhen the last bastion of Mingdi and arrested the monarch.

The Great Covenant (1807 – 1861)

The civil war led to the complete breakdown of the central institutions. Despite the enthronement of Tan Anmandi as the new Tan Dynast, local kings who sprang up during the revolt and joined the coalition were confirmed in their regal titles, with the support of the Principeans who financed their movements. These included the recreated Tabgach, Khitan, and Manchu states. Dujue himself, the general who installed Tan Anmandi on the throne, was recognized as King of Bian. The Principeans themselves obtained many concessions, creating a network of ports and direct dependencies along the Hou river, the main waterway of the Great Plain, the Cross-Canal, and thourough the coastline. Unconcerned with the Blaykish Civil War back in their homeland and by the wider crisis engulfing Auressia, these territories began organising themselves into a new entity, the Principean League in Surcia.

Each of the thirty colonies making up the Union were led by three officials elected by the colony' Odoquole : the Arioparte for the administration of the city, the Vellaune for law enforcement, and the Bretodane responsible of the judiciary. But gathering the representatives from all colonies was the Megodoquole held in Vives-Eaux. The Megodoquole held de-facto all legislative powers over the Principean colonies, checking in the powers of the Major-Resident, himself de-facto independent from Blayk because of the continuing republican wars in Auressia.

The Principean League and the various monarchs of the region, including both Dujue and Tan Anmandi, allied each others in a military pact known as the Great Covenant (大盟,Dàméng). The Covenant represented a Economic and monetary union as well as a joint military to which all member states needed to contribute men, but only the Tan Dynasty, the Bian Kingdom, and the Principean League were required to participate in its finances. At first King Dujue was the commander-in-chief of this common force, but following his death in 1810 military control over the Great Covenant de-facto went to the Principean League.

First and Second Minjak Wars (1805– 1810)

A Khitan Dragoon serving in the Great Army

The Minjak Wars were a series of conflict between the Great Covenant and Minjak, a kingdom that dominated the mountains west of the Great Plain. The first campaign, in 1805, was led personally by King Dujue as Commander-in-Chief of the entire Great Army despite his old age. But after some initial successes, he was forced to retreat, not finding a counter to the asymmetric warfare of the Minjak military before winter threatened to catch his troops in enemy territory. He resumed his campaign the following year, once again defeating the Minjaks in battle before being confronted to asymetric warfare and scortched earth tactics. This time however, by dividing his troops into two columns, Dujue managed to push through and ultimately found the Minjak' Khan hiding place. The latter managed to flee, but was assassinated by his followers who then surrendered to Dujue. An attempt to lead a guerilla by his eldest son was similarily squashed and it his second son, Murong Chengwei who ultimately succeeded to the throne and agreed to sign a peace treaty with the Great Covenant.

Chengwei' rule would last only four years before he was himself assassinated. The throne went to his young son, but power really went to the militarist Xionghun Clique (雄渾軍閥, Xiónghún Jūnfá) who then began building up the military of Minjak. This led to a diplomatic crisis with the Great Covenant, and ultimately to war in 1809. It lasted until january 1810, when the Great Army reached the Minjak capital after its successful sieges of Wulahai and Kiemen, two modern complexes of fortifications in which the Xionghun Clique had placed its hope. The new monarch surrendered, agreeing to sign a treaty of friendship with the Great Covenant and purge the remnant of the Xionghun Clique. A decade later, Minjak would be pressured into joining the Great Covenant.

The Social War (1861 – 1870)

Great Army (大軍,Dàjūn) soldier during an assault in 1868

The Great Covenant ended in 1861 in the flames of a civil war known as the Social War. After 54 years of existence, the Great Covenant' institutions had all been taken over by the Principean League, from the military to the diplomacy. While the main goal of most of the rebels and insurectionists was to rebalance the system, to have the same rights and equal treatement as the Principeans and limit the influence of the Megodoquole of Vives-Eaux. However, many other causes accelerated the civil war : religious conflicts between Macakkanists Grand Collegiums, Salvationists Schools, Neo-Macakkanists movements, and Perenists Missions, and the inner-conflict between the Principean League' colonies all played their parts in the turmoils.

The triggering event was the death of Paul Moisson, a Principean Odoque who was campaigning for reforms to the Great Army and to distribute lands and to better integrate the Tartares to the League. Accused of populism by his rivals, he was potentially murdered in December 1960. This sent a clear messages to the "three Tartares Kings" (of Tabgachy, Khitan, and Anchu) and their subjects that they would not be able to defend their cause through a patron in the Megodoquole. And so, they proclaimed their depart from the Great Covenant, to form their own Ligue Tartare. The question of the presence of Covenant garrisons in the three kingdoms quickly escalated into conflict and then war.

Similarly, the relatively recently integrated Minjak and Di states abandoned the Great Covenant and proclaimed their sovereignty. Moreover, The Later Tan' monarch Tan Wudi, no longer content to be a puppet of the Principean, published an edict that proclaimed the Principean League to be the Great Tan and to be fought by his subjects whenever possible. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Bian continued to be paralyzed by a legitimacy crisis that had left a power-vacuum filled by local warlords and rebellions.

What saved the Principean League during these early years was the disunion among their ennemies : The Tartare League was itself divided between each nation' nationalists movements and the Tartarists who wanted to unify the League into a single state. Both of these movements found themselves opposed to their Monarchies, although for different reasons. Meanwhile, most of the Later Tan territories did not rose up in arms because of their Monarch' edict, as the latter had expected, and did not oppose Great Army' troops movements within their districts.

By 1862, Tan Wudi had managed to re-organized the various pro-Tan peasant movements, Grand Army' desertors, and Tartare mercenaries into a single chain of command. This resurected Tan military would struggle against the remnant of the Great Army but in a direct confrontation, but through careful strategic manoeuvering they avoided such battles. They even managed to walk in and occupy the Kingdom of Bian, re-establishing the Viceroyalty of Bian instead.

The annexation of Bian by the Later Tan should've meant the Principean League' complete flanking and the opening of an entirely new front. However, the Tan had over-extended themselves and ended up facing strong resistance especially from the Hmong people and other Covenant Loyalists. By 1863 the Tan had been forced to abandon in catastrophe their position in Bianzhou. In its disastrous retreat, the Tan military ended up losing most of its fighting capability. By 1864, Beizhen was once more taken by the Principean, de-facto ending the Later Tan rule.

The Tartare Front would prove to be more mobile, chaotic, and confusing as it would take many months for an actual front to take shape. But by 1866, the Principeans had managed to integrate the resources and manpower of both the Tan Dynasty and Bianzhou to its military and industrial complexes and were now both outnumbering and outgunning the Tartares. The last pockets of resistance would be crushed in 1868.

Other loose ends, such as the Miniah and Di separatists, would be dealt with by 1870, the year traditionaly held as the end of the Social War.

One of the reasons behind the Principean victory during the Social war was their expansion of the Freeman status, sometime referred to as "Principean citizenship", to all cities or communities who joined their side. While cases of this policy happened as soon as 1861, it only became widespread in 1865 after Armand Dupic took power within the Principean League.

Early Shang Fa (1870 – 1901)

Portrait of Armand Dupic after he became Vergobret

The Social War had ravaged the various states of the Great Plains. Millions of people died during the conflict, be it during fightings or because of the famines, diseases, and disasters like floodings. And millions more had been forcefully relocated.

While the League was seemingly the victor of this "civil war", it's institutions had been more or less completely wiped out by the conflict. All powers had been concentrated in the hands of Armand Dupic, a popular Principo-Hua general, and the clique of military men, religious officials, and other scholars gathered around him. Dupic was characterized as Huanophile, liberal nationalist, and Caesarist. Under his leadership, acquired after the Crossing of the Kong River, gone were the local councils, the assemblies, and the magistrates they elected. Instead they were replaced by Prefect, replacing the bureaucrat-scholars traditional to the Huranian society. All inhabitants of the Great Plains were now Freemen would could participate in the public life, and not just the Auressianized elites.

Geography

The Great Plain

the Great Plain (literary Huranian : 太平原; Tàipíngyuán) is a great delta created from silt dropped at the Queen River (后河; Hòu Hé)'s mouth over the millennia. It extends over most Shang Fa, covering an area of about 400,000 square kilometers, most of which is less than 70 metres above sea level. Although its soil is fertile, the weather is unpredictable being at the intersection of humid winds from the Ocean and dry winds from the interior of the continent. This makes the plain prone to both floods and drought. Moreover, the flatness of the plain promotes massive flooding when river works are damaged. Thourough the millenia, the plain was the population and agricultural center of the successive dynasties that controled northern Huran. This did not change with Shang Fa.

Currently, the great plain covers slightly over half of the country and is the residence of eighty percents of its population. Sorghum, Wheat, millet, maize, and cotton are the main agricultural products cultivated in the region, although there are many others.

The Huranian name of the plain can be alternatively read as either "Greatest Plain" or "Plain of the Great Peace".

Demographics

Population

The majority of Shang Fa' population live along the Queen River in densely inhabited cities or in their well-irrigated countrysides. In its overwhelming majority, this urban population is of Huren descent, with fractions of minorities who either came from other parts of the country during the successives episodes of rural flights, or by the Hurano-Blaykish minority.

Shang Fa officially does not collect ethnic data. Only non-citizens residing in Shang Fa have their nationality documented, and only as far as their country of origin. However, independent estimates place the number of Huren in Shang Fa to be around 85 percents of the total population, so around 83 to 84 million people.

The secondmost important ethnies population wise are the Tartares. This was the name given by the first Auressians explorers in Surucia to a wide array of people, from turkic to Mongolic and Tungusic speakers who shared a nomad or semi-nomad lifestyle in the plains and mountains of northern Shang Fa. To this day, certain areas of the country continue to be commonly referred to as Tartary. Important groups that are recognized as ethnies of their own within this broad category include the Khitans, the Tabgachs, and the Manchus. In total, it is estimated that there is between 4 to 5 million people who belong to tribes recognized as Tartares.

Counting the exact number of Principean people in Shang Fa is especially difficult after more than a century of no demographic exchanges with Blayk and other countries of Principean Auressia. Many of the families who established themselves in Shang Fa came from second generation settlers in the Blaykish colonies of the "New World", who were tempted by more exotic adventures and profit-opportunities in Surucia. Most of Shang Fa' elite and upper class proclaim itself to be of Principean descent, but de-facto participate in an original culture often called "Hua-Blaykish" by foreign historians and sociologists. There exist however a sub-ethnies of Principeans, descended from the military colonists settled by the Great Covenant and then the Dynasty on conquerred or pacified territories. These Blue Caps (藍冠, Lánguān), living more rural lives, in semi-isolation from other communities, tend to be much poorer than their urban counterparts, while also having retained more visible "Principean traits".

Other minorities include Qiang speakers (羌, Qiāng), generally collectively known as Rma, the Di (氐, Dī), and the Hmong. The Rma are themselves divided into a multiple of tribes, of which the Miniah are the largest. Meanwhile, the Di people live mostly in the Bian river valley (邊河谷地, Biān Hé Dīgǔ). Although they mostly live as "rurals" like the the Rma or their neighboring Hmong, unlike them their lifestyle is solely agricultural and their traditional organisation is not tribal. Finally, the Hmong live mostly in the swamps and hills of the Upper-Bian, and were known to be semi-nomadic cattle-farmers and agricultors. In the modern days government policies and economic pressures have pushed them toward creating permanent settlements, but they continue to live on the hills surrounding the Bian river.