West Pahadan Rail

The West Pahadan Railway Company & The Automata Arms Corporation
c.1906 - 1951
Flag
Motto: 'Crown, Company, Commerce'
Anthem: Anthem of the Clockwork Empire
WPR (purple), its vassals (striped) and the Clockwork Empire (orange)
Capital and largest city	Nakashigawa
Official languages	Onghiri, Pahadan
Ethnic groups	Xian, Shihoki, Taebong, Zhuyeian, Sangam and Rukhanan
Demonym(s)	Korrukan
Government	Colonial Stratocratic Corporatocracy
• CEO	Zhang Xieren
• Chairman	Liang Yating
Legislature	Regional Unity Committee
Colonial Corporation
• Korrukan Invasion of Asphotachal	1906 - 1910
• SECOND Initiative	1910
• Xieren's Appointment	1912
• The Pahadan War	1912 - 1921
Population
• 1918 estimate	38,912,331 (within WPR) 84,074,512 (within its vassals)
• 1920 census	122,986,843
Currency	leyi (¤; LY) (LY)
Time zone	IMT +3
Date format	yyyy.dd.mm
Driving side	right
Preceded by Succeeded by Various Pahadan Kingdoms Imperial Federation Republic of Western Pahadan

The West Pahadan Rail Company, officially called The West Pahadan Railway Company and Automata Arms Corporation and often referred to by the initialism of WPR, was a colonial corporate and military holding of the Clockwork Empire in Western Pahada. Spanning from the steppes of Tungnir to the tropical forests of central Pahada, the colonial holding was regarded as 'the most powerful company in the world', as it played an integral role in every aspect of civilian life within it.

It was formed on the onset of Clockwork's Second Initiative in an attempt to better accommodate Korrukan investment in the region, predominantly railways and telecommunication lines. Early into its operation it became a conglomeration with 'Automata Arms', an Imperial arms manufacturer that had defaulted on its debts.

Whilst its original and primary function was the operation of the railways and telecommunications, WPR soon came to dominate every aspect of civilian, military and economic life within its territories once noted military officer and Grand Commandant Zhang Xieren became CEO in 1912. During this period it underwent aggressive industrialisation of the Pahadan coast, forced reallocation of ethnic groups, ethnic colonisation and would go on to conquer numerous Pahadan states that would become its vassals.

WPR was noted for its own highly trained security force, its permitted status to control Imperial armies in the region, its aggressive campaign for Korukkan nationalism with its influence back at home and its disregard for international treaties against the Empire, which culminated in the company producing and operating its own maritime fleet.

Economy

Burkhardt Wechsler's theories of collectivisation helped the foundation of WPR's policies. He was declared an honourary shareholder of the company, and visited the colony numerous times.

Under WPR, the economic power of Asphotachal grew exponentially over its almost fifty year existence. At its height in the late 1930s, Asphotachal accounted for roughly 1/7 of the entirety of the revenue received in the Clockwork Empire. The economic policies of mass industrialisation, more often than not at detrimental costs to the native population, saw an explosion of collectivisation, mechanised agriculture, numerous industrial revolutions, the expanse of mining and the promotion of arms manufacturing and domestic ship-building. WPR utilised Clockwork's close relationship with Drachenstaat to bring in numerous economic theorists to better educate the empire's existing administrators, including the famed Wechsler -- who oversaw numerous of his policies initially implemented in the region before taking them back home with him.

Agriculture

Whilst Asphotachal had nominally been agriculturally self-sufficient, the food surpluses envisioned by the Five Star Committee and the broader parts of 'SECOND Initiative' aimed on turning the fertile coasts of the region into a global bread-basket.

Land, originally held by the land-owning castes of the numerous merchant city states and oligarchs was collectivised and placed under the direct control of the company and the military. Small farmers were encouraged to 'voluntarily' give up their land in exchange for double its worth at the time, a policy that proved economically lucrative following the soy-bean explosion.

However, numerous attempts to cultivate the globally popular wheat as a profitable economic export failed. Therefore it was relegated to domestic consumption and WPR began a project of erecting flour mills, notably the collective of the Shoshou Flour Milling company to mill flour both produced locally and from Clockwork.

It was in fact a misunderstanding that began WPR's dominance of the soon-to-be immensely lucrative global trade in soya. A popular story of the time is that the armies stationed in Pahada demanded a greater increase in soy sauce. Hoping to capitalise on the effort and cut transporation costs, the government began planting soy farms for the sole purpose of soy sauce production. When their yields were immense and incredibly profitable, the mass-planting of soy beans began. WPR's production of soy was so immense, that by the early 1920s it accounted for over 85% of global production. All of these soy plantations were completed under the government industry and subsidiary of WPR: Seishan Soya.

The mechanisation of agriculture saw the introduction of numerous automatons that slowly replaced the native Pahadans, increasing their persecution as they were now considered 'obsolete.' A journalist at the time reported that in Asphotachal's huge farming complexes, one could 'not see a single soul, for the soil was under the control of the machines.'

Other crops produced by WPR included rice, potatoes, carrots and onions for domestic consumption and coffee, cacao, tea and sugar for export. Asphotachal's historic orchards were orange and apple and this maintained the case under WPR. With the advent of refrigeration, over half of both of the borne fruit was used for juice or cider, with the rest remaining in a raw form or for use as purees, an ingredient in baked goods or as rations.