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Legacy of the Dashing King
Legacy of the Dashing King: The Rise of Shun China
The Empire of the Great Shun (or Shun Dynasty China) was founded in the 17th century when Li Zicheng (the Yongchang Emperor) or the "Dashing King" as he was known, overthrew the Ming Dynasty in a massive peasant uprising and the Shun Dynasty has ruled China ever since then. The Shun Dynasty was considered by many to be a sleeping dragon, content to live in it's own world but if aroused, could become a major power. Under the Yongwu (Li Heng) and Shangwu (Li Xun) emperors, China started industrializing as foreign trade was allowed to commence and foreign investment began to pour into the Chinese Empire. In aiddition to a more open approach to trade, the Yongwu and Shangwu Emperors promoted Chinese industry via giving Chinese industrialists loans to help them set up their factories and companies. During the Great European War, the Shangwu Emperor had joined the Baltic-Adriatic Coalition and so received Taiwan when the BAC won the war. The future Jiaqing Emperor also served as a "volunteer" fighting on the Western Front. After the war, Prince Li Xiu became a prominent leader of progressive forces within the Chinese court as his father, the Shangwu Emperor, grew more and more ill until on November 27, 1916, the Shangwu Emperor died. Li Xiu was formally proclaimed the Jiaqing Emperor the next day. His reign would be marked by many reforms which would turn the Shun Empire into one of the world's great powers.
Li Xiu, the Jiaqing Emperor
From the start of his reign, the Jiaqing Emperor would prove to be a great ruler and a progressive man who would steer China to new heights of power, wealth, and prestige in what became known as the "Chinese Decade". He began his reign by adopting new economic policies designed to strengthen the Chinese economy. Said economic reforms enabled China to industrialize quickly and allowed China to grow wealthier in the next few years as Chinese capitalists could freely do about their business with little interference from the Chinese government. In 1919, the Shun Empire started expanding into Xiboliya after a war with Mongolia which left Mongolia a shell of it's former self. The Shun Empire saw Xiboliya as a source of potential natural resources for the industrialization of China and gradually pushed north with Sinicized Jurchens providing most of the settlers for Xiboliya. In 1927, the Shun Empire formally claimed all of Xiboliya not claimed by anyone else after annexing the rump state of Mongolia. While there were large-scale diplomatic protests by Volga Russia on the proclamation by Shun China proclaiming that all unclaimed areas of Xiboliya were now formally part of the Shun Empire, such a move proved to be very popular with the Chinese people and the vast resources of Xiboliya helped fuel Shun China's industrialization. China was now wealthier than it had ever been at any point of history and a middle class was growing in Shun China with said middle class demanded a say in political affairs, which led to the creation of a nascent constitutional monarchy in China.
The first step towards the creation of a (limited) constitutional monarchy in China was the creation of regional and municipal councils in 1920 which gave the Chinese people a say in local government. This caused large-scale grumbling among the Chinese bureaucracy, as they were unhappy with having to share their power with peasants and merchants as they felt that the power of officials that were appointed by the Mandate of Heaven should be absolute. In 1921, Li Xiu appointed Fu Yuhan, a respected statesman and diplomat who had served as Ambassador to Visegrad from 1912 to 1916 and Ambassador to France from 1918 to 1920, as Grand Chancellor to assist him with his program of radical administrative reforms which would help modernize Shun China. Fu Yuhan set about eliminating corruption in the Chinese civil service, which had the convenient side-effect of removing many reactionary-minded civil servants and bureaucrats who would have otherwise obstructed the Jiaqing Emperor's reforms. In addition, Fu Yuhan enacted a reform of the provincial administration which would streamline local government as well by removing many offices which gave the holder a fancy title and a nice salary but had little purpose. By 1926, the Jiaqing Emperor felt secure enough in his position as Emperor to start drafting with his allies in the bureaucracy a new constitution for the Shun Empire which would establish a (limited) constitutional monarchy in China. Over the next year, a council of 200 men, 100 appointed by the Jiaqing Emperor and the other half elected by the provincial assemblies wrote a new constitution for the Chinese Empire/Shun China. Said constitution gave China a bicameral legislature with a lower house of 684 delegates elected via universal suffrage and an upper house of delegates partly appointed by the Emperor and partly appointed by provincial governments. While said constitution gave China an elected legislature, the Emperor still retained large amounts of power like the right to appoint the Chancellor (who was accountable only to him although in practice, the Emperor decided to pick a candidate from the largest party (or coalition of parties)), declare war (and make peace), conclude treaties and alliances, enact Imperial Edicts, command the military without the authorization of the legislature, dissolve the lower house, and so forth. Despite the strong powers the constitution gave the Emperor, the 1927 Constitution was still a step towards democracy.
Fu Yuhan, Chancellor of China (1921-1933)
The 1927 Constitution was formally approved on March 1, 1927 with elections for the first National Assembly scheduled for September 21. In the meantime, nascent political parties started emerging in China in preparation for the elections. The Constitutional Protection Alliance (Xianfa Baohu Lianmeng), comprised of moderate Protectionists and supported by the Jiaqing Emperor and Chancellor Fu, was the party of progressive members of the Chinese elite and of protectionist elements of the middle class. The Alliance for Democracy and Progress (Minzhu Yu Jinbu Lianmeng) was comprised of Republicans who wanted a true constitutional monarchy where the Emperor had relatively little power like with Germania or Visegrad and more guarantees of freedoms and had their base among the middle class. In addition to the two major parties, two prominent minor parties developed in China as well. These were the Democratic Union Party (Minzhu Lianmeng Dang), which adhered to Democratic Unitarianism, and the National Salvation League (Jiuguo Lianmeng), which were comprised of hard-core ultra-nationalists and reactionaries. The elections of September 21, 1927 saw the CPA win 313 seats while the ADP won 208 seats while the DUP won 95 seats and the NSL won 68 seats. The Jiaqing Emperor kept Fu Yuhan in his post as Chancellor after the election as the CPA formed a coalition with a faction of the Alliance for Democracy and Progress.
As China was reforming itself internally and expanding north, one must not forget that China was also flexing it's muscles in Southeast Asia during this time as well. Victory in the Great European War for the BAC along with the Indian Revolution meant that Chinese influence in Southeast Asia increased during this period as well. After the rise of the Unified Indian State, Assam broke free from Indian rule and sought protection from China, which the Shun Chinese accepted. In addition to this, Burma, Dai Viet, Siam, Lan Xiang, and Cambodia fell under China's sphere of influence during this time due to China's victory in the Great European War as a member of the (defunct) Baltic-Adriatic Coalition and the fall of the Mughal Empire. The Unitarians in India were certainly not happy with this state of affairs of losing their sphere of influence in Southeast Asia and this set the stage for the rivalry between Shun China and the Unified Indian State which would define Sino-Indian relations for decades to come.
China was less heavily affected by the French Flu than most countries in Europe or the Vespuccias but still, the French Flu claimed 200,000 lives in China, mainly in the coastal cities like Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Xiamen. The economic depression caused by the French Flu around the world also affected Shun China as well as the Shun economy lost major markets for Chinese goods in the west with the economic collapse and the border shutdowns with growth in China slowing down (although not stopping entirely with the exploitation of Xiboliya's resources). The economic slowdown in China, as it did in the wider world, led to fringe political movements gaining strength in Shun China with both the Democratic Union Party and the National Salvation League gaining popularity. During the Japanese Revolution, the Chinese government backed a nationalist uprising in the Ryukyu islands which resulted in an independent republic arising in the Ryukyu islands with said "Republic of Ryukyu" being a Chinese client state with a Chinese naval base in Okinawa and a referendum scheduled in 1934 to decide whether it stays independent or becomes part of China (albeit with some autonomy). The new Unitarian regime of the Union of Japan, more concerned with putting their house in order, could do little more than fume and give speeches blasting "Chinese imperialism" to their people. In addition, Shun China increased the amount of troops and bases it had in Korea as well to counterbalance the new militarist nature of the Unitarians in Japan. In the 1931 elections, the Democratic Union Party won 257 seats while the Alliance for Democracy and Progress won 176 seats and the Constitutional Protection Alliance won 144 seats. In the meantime, the National Salvation League won 107 seats as well. A "grand coalition" of the ADP and the CPA was formed with Fu Yuhan continuing in his role as Chancellor of China until January 30, 1933, when Fu Yuhan, who was by now 67, announced his retirement from politics. His post as Chancellor had spanned the last years of the absolute monarchy of Shun China and the first years of the nascent (if limited) constitutional monarchy in Shun China. With Fu Yuhan now retired, it was up to the Jiaqing Emperor to appoint a new Chancellor. On February 2, 1933, Yang Long, a member of the progressive wing of the Alliance for Democracy and Progress who would be acceptable to the DUP, was named Chancellor of Shun China and given the role of forming a new Grand Secretariat, which was the de facto cabinet of China under the 1927 Constitution. With Yang Long as Chancellor, who knows what the future holds for Shun China?
Yang Long, Chancellor of China (1933-?)
The Empire of the Great Shun (or Shun Dynasty China) was founded in the 17th century when Li Zicheng (the Yongchang Emperor) or the "Dashing King" as he was known, overthrew the Ming Dynasty in a massive peasant uprising and the Shun Dynasty has ruled China ever since then. The Shun Dynasty was considered by many to be a sleeping dragon, content to live in it's own world but if aroused, could become a major power. Under the Yongwu (Li Heng) and Shangwu (Li Xun) emperors, China started industrializing as foreign trade was allowed to commence and foreign investment began to pour into the Chinese Empire. In aiddition to a more open approach to trade, the Yongwu and Shangwu Emperors promoted Chinese industry via giving Chinese industrialists loans to help them set up their factories and companies. During the Great European War, the Shangwu Emperor had joined the Baltic-Adriatic Coalition and so received Taiwan when the BAC won the war. The future Jiaqing Emperor also served as a "volunteer" fighting on the Western Front. After the war, Prince Li Xiu became a prominent leader of progressive forces within the Chinese court as his father, the Shangwu Emperor, grew more and more ill until on November 27, 1916, the Shangwu Emperor died. Li Xiu was formally proclaimed the Jiaqing Emperor the next day. His reign would be marked by many reforms which would turn the Shun Empire into one of the world's great powers.
Li Xiu, the Jiaqing Emperor
From the start of his reign, the Jiaqing Emperor would prove to be a great ruler and a progressive man who would steer China to new heights of power, wealth, and prestige in what became known as the "Chinese Decade". He began his reign by adopting new economic policies designed to strengthen the Chinese economy. Said economic reforms enabled China to industrialize quickly and allowed China to grow wealthier in the next few years as Chinese capitalists could freely do about their business with little interference from the Chinese government. In 1919, the Shun Empire started expanding into Xiboliya after a war with Mongolia which left Mongolia a shell of it's former self. The Shun Empire saw Xiboliya as a source of potential natural resources for the industrialization of China and gradually pushed north with Sinicized Jurchens providing most of the settlers for Xiboliya. In 1927, the Shun Empire formally claimed all of Xiboliya not claimed by anyone else after annexing the rump state of Mongolia. While there were large-scale diplomatic protests by Volga Russia on the proclamation by Shun China proclaiming that all unclaimed areas of Xiboliya were now formally part of the Shun Empire, such a move proved to be very popular with the Chinese people and the vast resources of Xiboliya helped fuel Shun China's industrialization. China was now wealthier than it had ever been at any point of history and a middle class was growing in Shun China with said middle class demanded a say in political affairs, which led to the creation of a nascent constitutional monarchy in China.
The first step towards the creation of a (limited) constitutional monarchy in China was the creation of regional and municipal councils in 1920 which gave the Chinese people a say in local government. This caused large-scale grumbling among the Chinese bureaucracy, as they were unhappy with having to share their power with peasants and merchants as they felt that the power of officials that were appointed by the Mandate of Heaven should be absolute. In 1921, Li Xiu appointed Fu Yuhan, a respected statesman and diplomat who had served as Ambassador to Visegrad from 1912 to 1916 and Ambassador to France from 1918 to 1920, as Grand Chancellor to assist him with his program of radical administrative reforms which would help modernize Shun China. Fu Yuhan set about eliminating corruption in the Chinese civil service, which had the convenient side-effect of removing many reactionary-minded civil servants and bureaucrats who would have otherwise obstructed the Jiaqing Emperor's reforms. In addition, Fu Yuhan enacted a reform of the provincial administration which would streamline local government as well by removing many offices which gave the holder a fancy title and a nice salary but had little purpose. By 1926, the Jiaqing Emperor felt secure enough in his position as Emperor to start drafting with his allies in the bureaucracy a new constitution for the Shun Empire which would establish a (limited) constitutional monarchy in China. Over the next year, a council of 200 men, 100 appointed by the Jiaqing Emperor and the other half elected by the provincial assemblies wrote a new constitution for the Chinese Empire/Shun China. Said constitution gave China a bicameral legislature with a lower house of 684 delegates elected via universal suffrage and an upper house of delegates partly appointed by the Emperor and partly appointed by provincial governments. While said constitution gave China an elected legislature, the Emperor still retained large amounts of power like the right to appoint the Chancellor (who was accountable only to him although in practice, the Emperor decided to pick a candidate from the largest party (or coalition of parties)), declare war (and make peace), conclude treaties and alliances, enact Imperial Edicts, command the military without the authorization of the legislature, dissolve the lower house, and so forth. Despite the strong powers the constitution gave the Emperor, the 1927 Constitution was still a step towards democracy.
Fu Yuhan, Chancellor of China (1921-1933)
The 1927 Constitution was formally approved on March 1, 1927 with elections for the first National Assembly scheduled for September 21. In the meantime, nascent political parties started emerging in China in preparation for the elections. The Constitutional Protection Alliance (Xianfa Baohu Lianmeng), comprised of moderate Protectionists and supported by the Jiaqing Emperor and Chancellor Fu, was the party of progressive members of the Chinese elite and of protectionist elements of the middle class. The Alliance for Democracy and Progress (Minzhu Yu Jinbu Lianmeng) was comprised of Republicans who wanted a true constitutional monarchy where the Emperor had relatively little power like with Germania or Visegrad and more guarantees of freedoms and had their base among the middle class. In addition to the two major parties, two prominent minor parties developed in China as well. These were the Democratic Union Party (Minzhu Lianmeng Dang), which adhered to Democratic Unitarianism, and the National Salvation League (Jiuguo Lianmeng), which were comprised of hard-core ultra-nationalists and reactionaries. The elections of September 21, 1927 saw the CPA win 313 seats while the ADP won 208 seats while the DUP won 95 seats and the NSL won 68 seats. The Jiaqing Emperor kept Fu Yuhan in his post as Chancellor after the election as the CPA formed a coalition with a faction of the Alliance for Democracy and Progress.
As China was reforming itself internally and expanding north, one must not forget that China was also flexing it's muscles in Southeast Asia during this time as well. Victory in the Great European War for the BAC along with the Indian Revolution meant that Chinese influence in Southeast Asia increased during this period as well. After the rise of the Unified Indian State, Assam broke free from Indian rule and sought protection from China, which the Shun Chinese accepted. In addition to this, Burma, Dai Viet, Siam, Lan Xiang, and Cambodia fell under China's sphere of influence during this time due to China's victory in the Great European War as a member of the (defunct) Baltic-Adriatic Coalition and the fall of the Mughal Empire. The Unitarians in India were certainly not happy with this state of affairs of losing their sphere of influence in Southeast Asia and this set the stage for the rivalry between Shun China and the Unified Indian State which would define Sino-Indian relations for decades to come.
China was less heavily affected by the French Flu than most countries in Europe or the Vespuccias but still, the French Flu claimed 200,000 lives in China, mainly in the coastal cities like Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Xiamen. The economic depression caused by the French Flu around the world also affected Shun China as well as the Shun economy lost major markets for Chinese goods in the west with the economic collapse and the border shutdowns with growth in China slowing down (although not stopping entirely with the exploitation of Xiboliya's resources). The economic slowdown in China, as it did in the wider world, led to fringe political movements gaining strength in Shun China with both the Democratic Union Party and the National Salvation League gaining popularity. During the Japanese Revolution, the Chinese government backed a nationalist uprising in the Ryukyu islands which resulted in an independent republic arising in the Ryukyu islands with said "Republic of Ryukyu" being a Chinese client state with a Chinese naval base in Okinawa and a referendum scheduled in 1934 to decide whether it stays independent or becomes part of China (albeit with some autonomy). The new Unitarian regime of the Union of Japan, more concerned with putting their house in order, could do little more than fume and give speeches blasting "Chinese imperialism" to their people. In addition, Shun China increased the amount of troops and bases it had in Korea as well to counterbalance the new militarist nature of the Unitarians in Japan. In the 1931 elections, the Democratic Union Party won 257 seats while the Alliance for Democracy and Progress won 176 seats and the Constitutional Protection Alliance won 144 seats. In the meantime, the National Salvation League won 107 seats as well. A "grand coalition" of the ADP and the CPA was formed with Fu Yuhan continuing in his role as Chancellor of China until January 30, 1933, when Fu Yuhan, who was by now 67, announced his retirement from politics. His post as Chancellor had spanned the last years of the absolute monarchy of Shun China and the first years of the nascent (if limited) constitutional monarchy in Shun China. With Fu Yuhan now retired, it was up to the Jiaqing Emperor to appoint a new Chancellor. On February 2, 1933, Yang Long, a member of the progressive wing of the Alliance for Democracy and Progress who would be acceptable to the DUP, was named Chancellor of Shun China and given the role of forming a new Grand Secretariat, which was the de facto cabinet of China under the 1927 Constitution. With Yang Long as Chancellor, who knows what the future holds for Shun China?
Yang Long, Chancellor of China (1933-?)
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