Privy Chariotry
| Privy Chariotry | |
|---|---|
| 中行車 | |
| Founded | before 265 |
| Country | Themiclesia |
| Branch | N/A |
| Type | chariotry |
| Role | ceremonial |
| Size | 240 vehicles |
| Part of | Privy Council |
| Colors | red |
| Commanders | |
| President of the Council | Siw Lek |
The Privy Chariotry (中行車, trjung-grang-k′lja) is the most ancient and senior military body in Themiclesia, providing the monarch's vehicular procession in public ceremonies and journeys. The antiquity of the unit, though by no means unique in the country, is culturally deemed primus inter pares, amongst the units that have been present since time immemorial. Members of the Privy Council are ex officio members of the unit.
Founding and role
The Hexarchy monarchs typically used large chariot processions to emphasize their status and wealth, as chariots were expensive war vehicles that could not be used productively and included at least four trained warhorses. Prominent individuals without active office, rather than ordinary militiamen, drove the vehicles in processions. As the procession had a quasi-military function of protecting the monarch, the charioteers were to furnish their own arms. The monarch came, in the formalized procession or 81 vehicles, just after the middle, and the Privy Chariotry drove every chariot within the procession before and after him.
As implied by name, the Privy Chariotry was the militarized arm of the Privy Council, manned by its members. While in earlier ages membership in the Privy Chariotry was not limited to nobility, in later practice it was monopolized by courtiers at leisure called dadh-pja (大夫), who were the monarch's trusted advisors but not appointed to any office. Such individuals often accompanied the monarch, providing advice on subjects from the arts to politics. As members of the body had to be of a certain experience and not encumbered by work, dadh-pja came to dominate the body. While only a select group of dadh-pja ever became privy councillors (trjung-dadh-pja), all dadh-pja were eligible and required to serve in the Privy Chariotry when called upon.
The vehicles in the procession did not belong to the charioteers themselves, rather to the monarch. When not in use, they were stored by the Vehicle Store (車府, k′lja-pjo′); the horses were provided by Hên-lang Stables (顯陽廄, hên′-lang-kwjeh). Since the procession's vehicles were not randomly arranged but according to a fixed order, members of the Chariotry could select which vehicle they desired to drive; this assignment was usually for a few years. Aside from a small number of chariots, the passenger seats were kept empty. To imply modesty, charioteers drive the vehicle from the right side, the left symbolically being the proprietor's (i.e. monarch's) seat. If someone sat in the chariot, usually other members of the Council or the emperor's favourites, they were required to maintain the l′jek (軾) position, that is with both hands on the front railings and body bowed forwards.
History
During the Hexarchy, every state a system somewhat comparable to that of the Tsjinh state, which came to represent it generally as it unified Themiclesia. After unification, the body became less active as warfare became less commonplace, and monarchs left palaces more infrequently.
Sexism dispute
In 1953, female literary critic and editor of Contemporary Literature Gwra Ngradh was appointed Councillor-at-Large (散大夫, sêl-dadh-pja) by the Secretary of State for Culture. Two years later, when she placed her name forward to become one of the emperor's charioteers, the Secretary of the Council allegedly approached her and "politely asked her to consider the consequences", pressuring for its withdrawal. While she did withdraw her name in the first instance, she later published a series of papers in Progress, a periodical noted for virulent criticism of the "many arbitrary rules that constricted Themiclesian society." In it, she severely castigated the sexist position of the Privy Council, which contained at least four former prime ministers and other prominent figures. This came at a time of social upheaval and garnered wide support in society, raising awareness of sexism in the upper classes, which had been seen as socially progressive in some circles, particularly in the previous century.
She writes:
Conservatives say that the court with its governmental and other institutions is at the heart of Themiclesia, and to this I see no objection. It is where our elected representatives make their case for the people and formulate policy for their betterment, etc., etc. In 1940, women have served in the Army and fought in open fire against invaders, culminating in the 1950 case where the Supreme Court ruled that women must be in every case as eligible as men for all positions in the Army. Their sufficiency was proven for all eyes to see in the lead-rain and cannon-fire. If a woman is as capable as a man, then her sex ought be no objection to her election to that position. In December 1950, the Army published a manifesto affirming its intention to obey statute and its interpretation by the courts. In 1951, the Air Force stated that there were no statutory or regulatory grounds to exclude the female sex from any of its positions. In 1953, the Navy also submitted its white paper to Parliament to dismantle any sexist rules that hitherto governed it. In 1955, I, a Councillor-at-Large in the heart of our nation, was denied on sexual grounds to drive one of our monarch's vehicles. If this is the heart of our nation, then the heart is corrupt. Our civil government is at stake, politically and morally, if the military instead take leadership in the path towards rational society and progress.
Ultimately, the President of the Council resigned his presidency over this matter and offered the Left Vehicle of Erect Flowers to her, in which she first appeared in public in 1956.